Eclipse
by Cats070911
Summary: Lynley and Havers investigate the murder of a young mother in Sheffield but find themselves drawn into an international web of violence, drugs and child pornography that pushes them to the limits of their friendship in a desperate race to save a boy who knows too much.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** All usual disclaimers apply.

Firstly I wrote this story to amuse myself and one or two others. It does take our favourite characters out of their comfort zones and give me the opportunity to speculate how they might react, hopefully while remaining true to character. I will say upfront that I have, somewhat deliberately, over-emphasised the behaviour and language of some of the new characters but they are actually all based on real people.

Due to life commitments I no longer have the time to write as furiously as I have in the past, so I intend to do a Dickens here and post chapters at regular, predictable intervals. You will receive a chapter every Monday and Thursday over the next few weeks. (Hint - Please do not pressure me to write or post faster.)

As always I hope you enjoy my ramblings and look forward to seeing your reviews.

* * *

The house looked like any other in that street. In fact street after street in Sheffield had uniformly dull brown brick terrace houses that faced each other in endless rows across narrow roads where most people where scared to drive let alone walk on. Sometimes the doors were different colours or the occupants had chosen something other than white net curtains and holland blinds to hide their secrets but they were all variations on the same theme - poverty.

"Detective Sergeant Havers," Barbara said as she flashed her ID card to the local constable on the door. The stench of the corpse had permeated the house and as she pulled on her blue rubber gloves and adjusted the hood of her white forensic overalls around her ears she tried to adjust her nose to the smell. "Where's the DI?"

"DI Smith Sergeant? He's back at the station with the boy. There's some posh bloke upstairs though."

Barbara smiled to herself. It seemed Lynley was already here. "Thanks Constable."

The smell intensified as she climbed the stairs. She could hear Tommy asking questions. It would be good to see him again. Even though he had only been on leave a week she had missed him much more than she would ever admit. "Morning Sir," she said at the top of the stairs.

Lynley turned and rewarded her with a broad smile that made her knees go weak. "Sergeant Havers! At last. We have a Caucasian female aged about thirty-five who appears to have been dead several days. Her nine year old son was here with her. He's been taken away for medical tests and forensics. He won't, or can't, speak. It appears to be a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. She bled out so it would most likely have been a slow and painful death."

Barbara looked at the bloated body. The gases had caused the skin to split in several places and the body had started to turn black. Maggots infested several of the wounds. Experience told her the woman had been dead at least four days. "Domestic?"

"Unlikely, her husband has been in Australia of all places. DI Smith contacted the authorities over there this morning. They will inform him. Hopefully he will be able to fly over to be with the boy within a few days."

"Poor kid."

"Indeed. Anyway, have a look around and see if there's anything I've missed."

They spent another half hour examining the house. There was nothing obvious that gave a clue to the motive or the murderer so they agreed to head back to the local station. "Did you bring your car?" Tommy asked.

"Nah, caught the train up and a taxi. My backpack is downstairs. No point in having two cars and I knew you'd driven straight up from Howenstowe."

"Yes, I thought it would save time. Put your bag in my boot and we'll see what the lad has to say."

As Tommy drove Barbara navigated which left little time for conversation. "How's your mother?"

"Better. You wouldn't think she would fall off her horse at her age but she was riding too fast. The ankle will take about six weeks to heal. She hates being on crutches but Judith will keep her in order. I wish you had come down with me."

Barbara felt her face blush. "Family business. You didn't need a stranger hanging around upsetting the routine."

Tommy sighed. He could never understand why she tried do hard to keep her distance. "You're hardly a stranger and I would have liked to have had you there. We both need a bit of a break after the last few months. Anyway we have this case to focus on now."

She had to agree that a break would be welcome. In the nine months since he had been back at work they had been presented with cases that gave her little hope for humanity. "We take one off the streets and more pop up. We're never going to stop people hurting each other are we?"

Tommy glanced across at his sergeant. She looked tired and a little battle-worn. "Our work makes a difference Barbara. We get justice for those that can't get it for themselves. That's important, to their families and society."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, I'm just tired and I keep thinking of the boy sitting with his dead mother."

"The doors and windows were all bolted shut. He's small for his age so I doubt he could reach the top bolt after the killer probably slammed it shut as they left."

"He."

"We can't be sure."

"Would a woman leave a small boy alone with his dying mother? I doubt it unless she was a real piece of work."

"Still, we cannot assume anything." Tommy agreed but did not want to overlook any possible leads.

"No Sir." He was right, as always, but she knew in her heart she was too. This crime was not something a woman would do.

When they reached the station the boy was sitting with a social worker in the interview room staring at the wall. He had been processed by the forensic scientist and was dressed only in a small pair of ill-fitting navy shorts and a grey jumper that the social worker had brought in. When Tommy and Barbara entered the room he looked lonely and afraid. Big dark blue eyes peeped out cautiously from under a mop of knotty, sandy hair. His skin was pale and freckly but he had long, fine features with a sharp nose and thin, patrician lips. Barbara had no doubt he would grow up into a stunning looking man. "Do we know his name?"

The social worker looked up from her notes and snorted dismissively. "According to our records he is Rufus Aloysius Woods, aged nine, attends Sheffield School for Gifted Children on a scholarship and is currently studying for his O levels. He won't speak to anyone but often with precocious children they think they are above us mere mortals."

Barbara glared at her and quickly summed her up. She was middle-aged, overweight and clearly jaded. Her grey lanky hair hung in strands that reminded Barbara of a knotty rope. Her full skirt with a dull purple flowery pattern was at odds with her greenish shirt with a small tear in the sleeve. She looked as if she could not care for herself let alone a traumatised boy. "Can we speak outside please?" she asked the woman.

They all stepped outside the room. "I don't care if he's got a Ph.D from Oxford, he's still a child who's been imprisoned with the corpse of his mother for four days. I doubt he has even thought about whether or not he looks down on you. He might be smart but he's just lost his mother. I think some compassion might be helpful here."

"Sergeant Havers is right," Tommy said, "this boy needs our help. That doesn't change simply because he's smarter than average."

"Suit yourselves but he's ungrateful and won't speak to me," the woman replied curtly, "and don't try the line that you once knew a bear called Rufus."

Tommy and Barbara watched her lope down the corridor towards the coffee machine. "And they put her in charge of children! Come on Barbara I think we can do a bit better."

Tommy and Barbara entered the interview room. This was not official but they did need to talk to him and keep him away from prying eyes. He looked up expectantly but then looked away. "Rufus, I'm Detective Inspector Lynley and this is Detective Sergeant Havers. We need to talk to you about the last few days."

Barbara looked at her partner and rolled her eyes. So much for compassion. He had spoken softly and kindly but was too formal for a nine year old, even one that was probably smarter than her. "It's okay Rufus. I can call you Rufus can't I?"

The boy nodded. "Mum calls me Roo. I'm her little kangaroo. You can call me that if you like."

"Well Roo, you can call me Barbara and this is Tommy. Okay?"

The boy nodded again. "Okay."

Tommy was surprised that the boy had such a strong Australian twang after three years in Sheffield. "We are trying to contact your Dad and get him over here as soon as possible."

"No!" Rufus looked instantly terrified. Barbara looked at him then the partners shot meaningful glances at each other.

"It's okay. You don't have to see him," Barbara reassured the child, "do you have any other relatives or a friend you would like us to call?"

The boy shook his head. He was clearly on the verge of tears and when Tommy stepped towards him to comfort him he cowered in fear. "It's okay Roo, no one here will hurt you. Tommy is a good man, you can trust him," Barbara said as she put her arm around the boy.

The boy eyed him suspiciously. "Mum says all men are bastards."

Barbara saw the shock on her boss's face and almost laughed. "Many are but Tommy's not one if them. Can we get you anything? A drink or something to eat?"

"Could I have a choccy milk please? The witch gave me a coke but I don't drink it. Only milk 'n' water."

Tommy nodded to Barbara. The boy was scared but he knew Barbara had a way with children. It was clear that Rufus trusted her and would not tell them much with him in the room. "I'll get it."

As he left he smiled at the way she had referred to him as Tommy. It would be wonderful if she could actually call him that more often. He dropped a pound coin in the vending machine and retrieved a container of milk. He returned to the room to find Barbara chatting about school. "Here you go Rufus. I'll just wait in the next room while you talk to Barbara."

Havers understood that Tommy would listen and observe through the mirrored glass wall. Rufus had also understood. "He's not very good at hidin' things is he?" he said disdainfully, "as if I don't know he's behind there listenin'."

"We just want to find the man responsible for your Mum's accident," Barbara said gently.

"It wasn't an accident...I think Dad shot her," Rufus blurted out.

Barbara had not expected that accusation but showed no surprise. "What makes you say that Roo?"

"The man in the hood...he was an Aussie. He and Mum were shoutin' at each other about sendin' me back to The Gong then I heard the bang and he ran out the front door. He locked it somehow. I couldn't get out and he took Mum's phone."

"And it was your Dad's voice?"

"I dunno. I'm not allowed to talk to him and I can't remember what he sounds like. Mum said he was a right bastard. She came over here to get away from him. I remember he used bash her up something fierce."

"Where's The Gong Roo?" Barbara asked.

"Dunno, where we come from I guess. Somewhere near Sydney. That's all Mum ever called it."

"Did the man hit your Mum?" Barbara asked softly.

"No the prick shot her!"

Behind the glass Tommy recoiled. He was shocked at the language from an obviously intelligent child. Barbara appeared unfazed and continued to question the boy. "Did you see him shoot her?"

"No, Mum made me hide in the vent but I could hear them shouting. I hid while he searched the house but I saw him run out of the door."

"Can you describe him? What was he wearing?"

"He was big, like Tommy but not as fat. He had on black Nike joggers, the ones from last year with the yellow and pink trim and black jeans."

"What about his shirt?"

"Dark but not as black as his jeans. It was long sleeved. He had a hood on but it was a different colour and had slits here like bank robbers." The boy pointed to his eyes.

"You're very observant Rufus."

"I have a photographic memory," the boy replied matter-of-factly. "Mum says it's a curse." With that he started to cry.

Barbara felt sorry for the boy. "Well I think it would be very handy. I'd forget my head if it wasn't screwed on."

"No you wouldn't. I can see you thinking. You're smarter than you believe."

This time Tommy saw the shock on his partner's face. Rufus was a very perceptive child and Tommy wondered if he might know more than he was letting on. He decided to re-enter the room. "Hi Rufus, just me again. I was wondering which vent you hid in."

"The one in the hall. I pull the grate off and pull it back in then I can stand inside on two blocks Mum put in there for me to stand on so no one can see me."

Tommy frowned over his head at Barbara. "Do you hide there often?"

"Yeah, Mum was always scared Dad would turn up. I used to hide every time someone we didn't know came to the house."

"I see. Thanks Rufus. I think it's time we got you something to eat don't you?"

Barbara reluctantly handed Roo over to the social worker with a promise that she would see him tomorrow. She noticed that his demeanor instantly changed and he retreated back into himself. "I'm worried about him," she declared as she slumped into the chair in the room they had be allocated to use as their base.

"He'll be fine. They'll find a foster home quickly and he still has his father, if we can rule him out of the murder."

"He's unusual for his age. I'm not sure everyone would cope with him."

Tommy squeezed her shoulder as he passed to sit in the other rigid office chair. "The best way we can help is finding the murderer." He flicked on his computer and entered a few keystrokes while Barbara sat frowning at the wall.

"I wonder if there was more to it than domestic violence. It sounds as if his mother was hiding him. Do you think he knows something or has seen something that someone might be willing to kill to get?"

"Or to prevent it getting out? Yes, it's a distinct possibility. Seems The Gong is the nickname of Wollongong, a city about 50 miles south of Sydney. Looks like an industrial town with a steelworks, coal mines and a port. It claims to have the most diverse, multicultural population in Australia."

"Sounds grim. No wonder his mother wanted to escape."

"Your perceptions might not be reality Barbara. It seems to have beaches and some dramatic coastal scenery. See look."

Barbara stood close to him as she looked over his shoulder. She was careful not to touch him but she could feel the heat coming off his back warming her stomach. She had a phrase for times like that - exquisite torture. She looked as long as she dared, watching his head and shoulders more than the screen. She moved back and flopped into the chair. "Hmm, still not a place on my travel bucket list. Anyway, Australia's too far from anything and everything there wants to kill you."

He wanted to chastise her for her snap judgements and biases but Tommy had to agree it was a long way so he simply shook his head and laughed. "You'll never change will you?"

"Is that a question or a request," she replied cheekily.

He was about to reply when the constable Barbara had seen in the morning knocked on the door. His is face was so pale Barbara knew instantly something terrible had happened.

"What is it Constable?" Tommy asked.

"Sorry to interrupt Sir but someone just kidnapped Rufus Woods."


	2. Chapter 2

"He only left here half an hour ago!" Barbara was angry and confused.

Tommy was calmer. Time was critical if they were to track him. "Do we have any more details Constable?"

"Seems the social worker was hit on the back of the head as she unlocked her car. It was parked two streets from here because there are no meters there and she wanted to avoid paying for parking. All she remembers is that as she was struck she saw a man wearing a balaclava clamp his hand over the boy's mouth, then she blacked out. She stumbled back here for help. We've called for an ambulance but she's still downstairs."

"Right thanks," he said as he started to move towards the door. He looked at Barbara who was on his heels, "sounds like there are two of them involved."

"Still think it might be a woman?"

"One might be. Remember the Thompsons? We can't rule anything out Barbara."

"Thanks for reminding me," she said then hurried ahead.

Tommy watched her storm off and regretted his words. He had not meant to imply she was making another error of judgement, he was simply trying to reinforce that women were as capable of evil as men.

The interview with the social worker added no more details. Barbara left to visit the scene while Tommy despatched constables to search the area around the car and called the police scientist to gather any evidence. She arrived shortly after Barbara but could find little of any value.

"Nothing Sir," Barbara reported when she returned, "and being a busy street there are no obvious footprints, no drag marks, and they probably never touched the car. The scientist has gone to the hospital to take photo of the wound and bruising to see if we can identify the weapon but I doubt that will lead us anywhere."

Tommy was relieved that her attitude seemed normal towards him. He had feared she might raise his gaffe. "I expected that unfortunately. I've issued an alert to all the trains, ferries, airports and hire car companies but I suspect they have already planned their escape route so I also rang Australian Immigration. They'll issue an alert at all entry ports. Also the police over there have had no luck tracing the father. He isn't at his residence. He was on a four day shift roster at work so no one noticed he was missing until yesterday when he didn't turn up for work. They are pretty strict with Immigration over there so keep departure records but no one has used his passport in the last three months."

"Are the police interviewing family or friends and colleagues?"

"Yes, it seems no one had any inkling of any issues and no one knows where he is now. Apparently he has a reputation as a solid worker and nice guy."

"A nice guy who used to bash his wife!"

"Barbara, we only have the boy's word for that and I doubt he saw it directly or he would have been able to describe it. It's possible his mother had other reasons to make the boy scared of his father and that was an easy way."

Barbara nodded. Trust Tommy to always think broadly about these things. He was right of course but she had a feeling the father was deeply involved. "What's his name?"

"David Aloysius Woods. We have no entry records and we are checking the EU countries now."

"Probably has a false identity and if that's the case he probably has one for the boy too. Unless he wants to murder him."

"I think if he wanted to kill him he could have done it this morning by the car. I hope he wants him alive. I fear that you are right about the false identity. He'll have an escape plan already worked out. None of this is opportunistic. Although I do wonder why he didn't go back for the boy at the house?"

"If he searched it and didn't find him and then locked it he may have watched and waited for him to come back. Let's get people back there. We can canvass the neighbours again and see if they noticed anyone hanging around. We mainly asked about the day of the shooting. Maybe the clue is after that."

"I still can't believe no one heard the gunshot or that people waited four days before investigating."

"It was only when the school counsellor turned up looking for Rufus that we were alerted. It's that type of neighbourhood - keep your head down and your nose out of other people's business. Acton used to be a bit like that in parts when I was growing up. Anyway let's see if we can turn anything else up."

They spent the afternoon interviewing neighbours and friends but it was frustratingly fruitless. Around six o'clock they dismissed the team for the evening. They decided to check into their hotel before eating at a local pub. "I could really do with a drink," Barbara sighed.

"King's Arms, this is the one the concierge recommended" Tommy announced after he followed careful directions. The local pub was quite dismal. It had been built in the seventies and had cheap plastic fittings housed inside a brown-painted, non-descript concrete block building.

"More like King's Underarms! I've seen more attractive prisons," Barbara said as she slid into a small booth with forest green vinyl seats that seemed slightly sticky against her jeans. The cheap pine table had been stained to imitate mahogany and added to the cheap feel of the place.

"Apparently they do good chips. Pint?"

"Yeah, ta."

Tommy returned quickly with the drinks. "To our partnership," he toasted.

Barbara frowned then clinked her glass against Lynley's. It seemed an odd thing to say. "Cheers."

"It's ten years this week since we were first partnered together."

"Yeah? I must've lost count. Doesn't seem that long and yet..."

Her voice trailed off which made Tommy look up. "And yet so much has happened."

"Yeah, it has; too much in some ways," she confirmed, "but I...I'll always be glad they put us together."

"Me too," he said gently as they accidentally looked into each others eyes. Tommy saw a fondness that emboldened him. "Today when you called me Tommy in front of Rufus, I enjoyed it. It made me feel like we were truly partners. Will you call me Tommy please? Sir seems so...impersonal."

Barbara saw his eyes almost pleading her. She could never explain that it was far more than a word. It was a barrier, a way to remind her he was her boss, her superior. It was a word that stopped her falling hopelessly in love with him. "It's only a word."

"Quite. Which is why I don't understand why you can't use it more often."

"I'm sorry but I can't. It wouldn't seem right."

"You called Fiona Knight by her first name and other DIs," he snapped angrily, "anyway if that's your choice so be it but don't say I never tried to be closer to you."

He heard the anger in his voice and it shocked him. She was right, it was only a word and not calling him by name would not change their history and their loyalty to each other. Barbara had already proved she cared when she lied for him and put her career on the line to save him. He watched helplessly as sadness start to dominate her face. He wanted to apologise and understand why she could not call him Tommy. He wanted to talk to her about how she felt but he did not know how. Barbara could be defensive and prickly and he did not want to make her uncomfortable, especially after his faux pas earlier. She was clearly upset and worried about the boy and he was pressing her about his name. "I'm sorry. It doesn't matter. Shall we order?"

Dinner was barely edible and after another round of drinks they walked slowly back to the hotel. They had gone over and over everything they knew about the case but neither of them had any insights. As they climbed the stairs Tommy put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. "We'll find Rufus alive Barbara, I can feel it." He sounded much more confident than he felt but he sensed his partner needed reassurance. When he dropped his arm at her door he felt oddly lonely.

Barbara smiled sweetly at him, acknowledging that she appreciated his attempt to console her but knew it was exactly that. "Night Sir, see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Barbara," he replied affectionately as she slipped behind her door.

Tommy slept restlessly. He dreamt of the boy being found dead and of Barbara never forgiving him. At three o'clock he began pacing the room. He had to be missing something obvious. His thoughts soon moved to Barbara as he tried to analyse reasons why she was so reluctant to call him by his name. He knew it was not important to the case but it bothered him more and more as he walked. He lay down and tried to sleep but all he could think about was his sergeant. He remembered that day he had held her in his arms when she had confronted PC Garrett. She had needed him then but it had affected him deeply. He needed her just as much. He had first felt it when she was shot. As she recovered he missed her more than Helen. It had been irrational and unproductive but over subsequent months he had never been able to shake that feeling. When Helen came back he had welcomed the chance to redeem himself, to convince himself that he had confused his friendship with Barbara and loneliness for something more but now as he imagined holding her in his arms and feeling the warmth of her body against his, he knew it had been a pretense. He had slowly, inextricably fallen in love with his unpredictable partner and he had no idea what to do about it.

Two rooms away Barbara was asleep. She had struggled at first to settle but it had been a long day and she knew tomorrow would be hard as they tried to find Roo. He was an unusual boy but she liked him. In another universe she would have liked children of her own but right now her role was to find him. Any issues she had with her brooding boss would have to wait.

The next three days were tedious and futile. There was no further evidence of the murderer or about Rufus's kidnapping. "I think we should go back to London tomorrow," Tommy declared as they sat in his office staring at the crime-board full of photos and arrows but no answers.

"Makes sense. We're not going to solve this one are we?"

He sighed then conceded, "probably not. We shouldn't give up hope but it seems obvious it was the father. He had no history or links to England so we have nowhere to go and no one to talk to. They've either gone to ground or snuck out of the country. I don't want to give up Barbara, I really don't."

"Me either. I feel I owe Roo somehow. I promised him he would be safe. I should never have let him go with that bloody woman who calls herself a child protection officer!"

Tommy heard the pain in her voice. It was like nails down a blackboard. He turned to face her and made sure she was looking at him. "None of this is your fault Barbara. Hindsight is a cruel master and makes us slaves to regret and what ifs. I won't have you eating yourself up over this case. We'll find a way, we always do but we'll go home tomorrow and try to find out more about the father. I went to school with an Australian. He's a top criminal barrister in Sydney. He might have some ideas. I won't give up until we have to Barbara. Something will turn up to give us a lead."

Barbara tried hard to keep her emotions in check. He was being so galant, as always. It was hard to avoid falling in love with him just a little bit more. He smiled at her and without thinking she said, "Thanks Tom..my." As soon as she started she realised what she had done. Her face flushed crimson and she lowered her eyes as she cursed inwardly for her slip. "Er, thanks...Sir."

It took all of his aristocratic training to keep his stiff upper lip from curling into a broad smile. He knew his eyes were harder to hide. He stood and extended his hand. She looked up shyly and accepted it. He pulled her gently to her feet and put his arm around her shoulder. "We'll find him Barbara."

The next morning they drove the three and a half hours back to London largely lost in their own thoughts. They had eaten dinner and breakfast together but had barely spoken. Barbara had been worried about the subtle change in their relationship at a time when she could not afford to even contemplate what it could ruin. Surely he could not suddenly feel more than friendship. She could not allow herself to think that, to open the lid on years of empty fantasies.

Tommy on the other hand had been trying to decide how to introduce the idea that they could be more than friends. Sudden declarations of undying love on the motorway would be met by derisive laughter but frankly that was his best idea. How do you woo a woman who does not believe she is worthy of being loved by any man let alone a moody, unreasonable earl who had subjected her to years of listening to his angst filled love-life? He glanced across to see her furtively trying to look at him._ Oh God this is going to be hard!_

They checked in at the station and set up their crime board. Winston Nkata was still on leave and Tommy disliked the female constable that was relieving him. She kept staring at his crotch and licking her lips. It was vulgar and demeaning and he hated himself for feeling vaguely flattered.

"Is she one of yours?" Barbara asked disdainfully.

Tommy frowned at her. "One of my what, exactly?"

"Conquests, after you returned to work."

"No! She is not. In fact after the mess with Julia, I, well I...haven't slept with anyone."

Barbara looked stunned. "No one? But you dated a few women. I know you slept with Debbie from the desk downstairs! She told me."_ In far too much gory detail!_

"Well she lied. Women do that you know. I took her to dinner and she invited me in for coffee. I admit I kissed her but it felt wrong so I stopped and left. After that I stopped even going out with women." Tommy was embarrassed and a little ashamed. He looked at the floor and picked at a flaw in the carpet with the toe of his shiny black shoe.

Barbara bit her bottom lip. She wanted to believe him. In fact she did believe him. Something had sounded funny about the way Debbie had described it. She could not imagine Tommy being a forceful lover. "Turned did you?"

"I'm sorry?" Tommy looked up confused.

"To men. Did you turn to men?" Barbara saw the horror on his face and before he could object or raise into an aristocratic huff she began to laugh. "It was a joke."

"Ha bloody ha. Now pin that next to the photo of Roo while I put this over..." The telephone interrupted him. He picked it up and frowned.

Barbara tried to read the conversation from his face. He looked lighter and younger as the conversation wore on but his answers gave nothing away. "Well?" she asked anxiously as he hung up.

A broad smile lit up his face. "Roo and his father were apprehended coming into Sydney on a domestic flight from Cairns. They came in via Papua New Guinea on false passports. Seems they drove from here to Switzerland and left from there. It was pure chance they were spotted by an off duty officer waiting to collect his wife."

Barbara collapsed into the chair and smiled. "Thank goodness. So it's all over then."

"No, not quite. They want someone from here over there to handle the extradition and escort the boy and well...it seems Roo refuses to speak to anyone but you. Hillier has arranged for you to be on tonight's flight."

"To Australia?"

"Yes, seems you are going after all Barbara." He saw the horror fill her face. "I hope you don't get eaten," he added with a smirk.

Even Tommy blushed at the language of her vehement reply.


	3. Chapter 3

Barbara sulked as he drove her home to pack. She refused his offer of a lift to the airport arguing that if the Met wanted her to go they could damned well pay for a cab.

"It's only five days Barbara. You might even get a chance to take a photo in front of the Sydney Opera House or the Harbour Bridge."

"I'm not going there for the sights! Do you think I should pack my suit in case I have to appear in court?"

"Yes, pack it but travel in something comfortable," he replied, "you really should try to see something while you're there. It's a long way to go, you might regret not seeing the city."

"I doubt it," she said as he pulled into the kerb at the front of her flat. "Thanks for the lift. I guess I'll see you in four or five days." She got out and leant back through the door. "And thanks again for keeping me afloat. It was hard thinking I had let him down."

"My pleasure but you've never let anyone down Barbara."

She smiled at him. "I doubt Hillier would agree with you but I appreciate it." She saw the softness in his eyes and had to go before she said something completely inappropriate. "See you soon."

"I'll be waiting for you," he said.

Barbara frowned slightly then closed the door and hurried inside. It was a strange thing for him to say but she quickly rationalised ten different, innocent ways he probably meant it. It was the one other possibility that occupied her thoughts while she showered, changed and packed.

Tommy drove home cursing his awkwardness. He slammed his front door and poured himself a drink. What the hell was his comment about waiting supposed to mean? Even he did not fully understand. Of course he would be waiting for her, keen to see her again and be able to successfully close another case. What he did not want to admit was that he missed her already. The week in Cornwall without her had been agonising and now he would be separated for nearly another week. He really should tell her how he felt but he feared she might laugh.

Three nips into his bottle of whiskey he glanced at the clock. It was just before eight thirty. Barbara's flight was scheduled to leave in forty minutes. She would be waiting to board. He toyed with phoning her to wish her a safe flight. He had neglected to say that in his clumsy farewell. He picked up his mobile just as it rang. "Barbara?...oh sorry Sir...yes, yes she should be about to board...you can't be serious?...Yes I understand you would never joke about such things...me? Well yes I could...fifteen minutes should be enough time...yes. I can use my title, it tends to help in such matters. I will Sir. Thank you" Tommy hung up and tore up the stairs to his bedroom. This was going to be tight.

Barbara boarded the Qantas flight and was irritated by the laid back efficiency of the flight staff who were welcoming everyone on board as if they were genuinely pleased to see them. It was disconcerting when she was looking for an excuse to be annoyed. She fought her way down the nearest aisle past passengers struggling to force oversized parcels into the lockers above their seats. She scouted the seat numbers for 57C. The C's appeared to be aisle seats, a small blessing given she would be on the plane for nearly twenty three hours.

As she went to lift her handbag and small suitcase into the overhead bin a large Indian man shoved his bag in that spot. Barbara glared at him and he simply nodded at her and pretended not to understand. "Lemme 'elp yer love," a booming voice said over her shoulder as she felt her case being pulled from her grip.

The man reached into the locker, rearranged the bags and settled hers in comfortably. "Safe as houses."

"Thank you."

"No worries. We're in 'ere," he said pointing to her row.

Barbara stepped aside to allow the man and his girlfriend to sit down. She sat gingerly beside them and stared at the the fabric of the seat in front. It was grey with a red undertone and red highlights creating irregular diamonds. The video screen had random photos of sun-drenched beaches, shimmering deserts and verdant rainforests interspersed by famous landmarks. Uluru flashed up followed by Sydney Harbour. Barbara could stand it no longer and stabbed her finger repeatedly at the screen trying to turn it off. She groaned when it defiantly flashed up the Great Barrier Reef.

"It doesn't go off until they play the safety video."

Barbara turned to the woman sitting beside her. "Thanks," she mumbled.

The woman smiled and extended her hand. "Jenny Smithers and this is...don't Jake...this is Jake Hahn."

Barbara smiled awkwardly as she tried not to watch Jake playfully biting his girlfriend's neck. "Barbara. Barbara Havers."

"Pleased to meet you. You from London?"

"Yeah."

"We lived at Earls Court for a year but we travelled a lot too. We love London don' we Jake?"

"Yeah, great place. It'll be good to get home though."

"Are you from Sydney?" Barbara asked trying to be polite.

"Yeah, Manly, the northern beaches. Surfies but you'd never know after London."

Barbara nodded and tried to sound friendly, "hmm, not much surf on the Thames."

The couple laughed so Barbara joined them. She was saved from further conversation by the hostess offering bottles of water. The couple beside her started to cuddle and put their heads close together, talking quietly and giggling. Havers tried hard not to imagine they were talking about her. The couple seemed nice and obviously in love the way they snuggled together. She closed her eyes and imagined doing that with Tommy. Her eyes shot open quickly. He would never do that on a plane! She closed her eyes again and tried to imagine canoodling on his couch. This vision seemed vaguely possible but still unlikely. She sighed then decided to read the inflight magazine.

Tommy had packed quickly and despite his advice to Barbara dressed immaculately in a light grey suit, crisp white shirt and royal blue tie with a classical but abstract pattern woven through in slightly darker thread. Everything fitted neatly into his suit-pack. He quickly double checked - three pairs of underwear, three pairs of socks, two white shirts, one navy suit, one casual shirt, one pair of jeans, toothbrush, two disposable razors. No gels or liquids to slow him about at the airport gate. He could use the toothpaste from the plane and buy shave gel and deodorant in Sydney. He glanced at his watch. Twelve minutes since Hillier had rung him to say the boy's father had been killed and Rufus had gone missing. He had two minutes to lock the windows, pull on his shoes and wait for the cab to Heathrow.

The public announcements about safety interrupted her reverie. She was vaguely amused by the video with its laid back, almost jovial but insistent emphasis on safety. The hostesses moved quickly about the cabin. They were all neat and surprisingly trendy in their navy, almost black A-line dresses with short sleeves and bold red and fuchsia slashes covering the top left quadrant and short sleeve finished off with a fuchsia scarf knotted at the neck. The scarf reminded Barbara of a dog collar. She would hate to have to wear something so restricting around her neck. The male steward in her cabin was tall and dark and cut a nice figure in his navy suit. He looked a little like Tommy and she cursed Hillier again for sending her half way across the world without him.

"You married Barb?" Jenny asked.

_Barb? That's a bit forward!_ "No single," she answered politely but in a way that did not encourage conversation.

"Neither'r we. Can't see the point in a piece of paper really. Boyfriend then or girlfriend?"

Barbara looked up shocked that they might think she had a girlfriend. _Oh hell, what's it matter? I'll never see them after this flight._ "Boyfriend. His name's Tommy."

"So is he in Australia?"

_More damned questions!_ "No, London, I'm going out for work."

"Shame...to go so far without your man. Whaddya do?"

"I'm a..." Barbara thought quickly to avoid admitting she was a policewoman. "I'm a social worker. A boy was taken illegally and I'm going over to bring him back."

"Oh, how fascinating. What's yer man do?"

"Property investment. He has quite a large portfolio." Barbara cringed inwardly. It was not untrue but it was hardly a fair way to describe his estate and Asherton businesses.

"So where did yer meet?"

"Work." _Damn, that doesn't make sense._ "At a fund raising event for work," she added.

"What's he like?"

"Tall, dark, handsome, rich. You know the classic man."

Jenny looked at her skeptically. "Yeah, right. I was only tryin' to be friendly."

Barbara had not meant to offend. She was actually growing to like the couple even if the boyfriend said nothing and continued to kiss Jenny's shoulder. "No, really. He's about six two with dark wavy hair with just a speck of grey. When it's too long it tends to hang down over his left eye. It's quite erotic the way he sweeps it up off his face. He has gorgeous deep brown eyes that just draw you in and when he smiles I just melt."

"Does he have a brother?"

Barbara frowned. "Yes, why?"

"Just in case I trade Jake in!"

Barbara laughed. "I don't think you'll be doing that anytime soon."

"Me either," she said stopping to give Jake a passionate kiss. Barbara looked away.

A few minutes later Jenny resumed the conversation. "So this Tommy of yours, have you been together long?"

"About ten years."

"Any kids?"

"No. It never worked out for us," Barbara lied feeling she needed an explanation.

"Oh well, it doesn't stop yer practicing! Whoa, I hate this part."

Barbara felt the plane start to accelerate. Talking to Jenny she had not even noticed the plane taxiing out. As it left the ground Barbara suddenly missed Tommy a lot more than she would admit to anyone. It was a bit ridiculous but she looked in the direction of Belgravia and whispered a soft farewell.

Tommy was not in Belgravia. He was in fact at Heathrow looking out the window of the Emirates Lounge watching her plane take off. Frantic phone calls on the way to the airport had secured him a seat on a flight to Dubai leaving in forty minutes. He then had only thirty minutes to clear the gate and board Barbara's flight after its stopover in Dubai. He wondered what she would think as he boarded. He was looking forward to seeing the shock on her face.

In the darkened cabin, lit only by the thin ethereal blue line of emergency lights, Jenny and Jake cuddled and kissed passionately for what seemed like hours. After a tasty but mass produced meal of chicken and pasta that she had struggled to eat with her plastic cutlery, Barbara watched an action film then tried to sleep but even the hum of the engines and the background noise of the cabin did not block out the sounds of giggling and cavorting coming from the lovers. Her seat was becoming hard and seemed to narrow every time she moved. Her tail was numb and her shoulders ached. Everyone had reclined their seats the few inches allowed but it still felt as if she had been strapped into a wooden kitchen chair. This was going to be a long flight!

In contrast Tommy was enjoying his flight. The First class cabin was spacious and his seat was wide enough to accommodate a small hippopotamus. The soft, creamy leather contoured to his shape and the massage action in the chair back kept him relaxed. He had decided not to sleep on this leg so after a silver service meal of lobster miso soup followed by a delicious roast goose served with figs and cider gravy and a rich chocolate gateaux for dessert, he selected Thomas Hardy's _Jude The Obscure_ from the inflight library. He smiled to note it looked unread by earlier passengers. He loosened his tie and undid his top button making him presentable but more comfortable. He had used his title to secure a seat at short notice so tolerated the fawning of the cabin staff. He had even enjoyed the foot massage that the attendant had skillfully given after dinner. Now he lay back, his tall frame fully supported by the lie-flat seat. His noise cancelling headphones gave surprising clarity to Wagner and the single malt Talisker that he sipped warmed him better than the soft cashmere blanket spread over his legs. He wondered idly how Barbara was fairing on her flight.

She glanced at her watch. They had been in the air for a little under four hours. It was still three and a half to their stopover which was only a third of the way to Sydney. She cursed and groaned then clamped her eyes shut and turned inward to her fantasy where Tommy was her partner in the true sense. She drifted into a fitful, guilty sleep imagining his arms around her.

Dubai airport was bright and shiny and unlike anything Barbara had seen before. Everyone and their cabin baggage were screened on arrival and then set free in the cavernous space. Huge curved metal walls were dominated by large wedges of hatched glass that allowed the early morning light to pour in and fall onto the gleaming brown and grey swatches of tiles that punctuated the cream and glass blandness of the waiting lounges. Rows of neat red cloth seats were rapidly filled by tired travellers and others started to lie in the spaces next to the glass walls that looked down on the level below. Barbara wandered into the four storey atrium to look at the shops. Brightly coloured neon signs in Arabic and English presented a confusing array of choices. Slowly as she strolled along she was approached by men in flowing white robes and headdresses that reminded her of the chequered tea-towels in her kitchen. Every type of electronic gadget beckoned her and shops were filled with clothing and jewels and handbags that would need a year of her salary just to purchase. She hurried back to the gate. She noticed Jake and Jenny were huddled close together by the wall but had the sense not to display affection in public. She caught Jenny's eye and smiled then settled in a seat and waited to re-board.

When boarding commenced she lined up and dutifully scanned her boarding pass. It beeped and she was drawn aside. "Ms Havers, you seat has been changed for the next leg," a hostess with fresh make up and broad smile told her.

"Why?"

"I don't know ma'am. Here's your new pass. Seat 11A, through the first door on the left. Have a pleasant flight."

Barbara felt dismissed. She took the slip of paper and proceeded to the first door which was a short glass tube leading down to the plane. Men in suits and women in smart clothes with elegantly tied casual scarfs around their necks dominated the slow-moving queue in front of her. She dutifully trotted behind them and was directed to her seat. She turned to the hostess. "There's been a mistake. I'm travelling Economy."

The hostess glanced at her boarding pass with a practised eye. "Ms Havers?"

"Yes."

"No mistake, you have been upgraded. Please enjoy your flight. Would you like a glass of champagne, orange juice or water?"

"Water please," she answered, "no wait, champagne please."

Barbara stared at her seat. It was more like a portable office. The chair was plushly upholstered in sand coloured leather and angled gently towards the windows. A large television screen sat at the end of the alcove above the footrest. The hostess whisked away her bag and allowed Barbara to store her handbag behind a door in the walnut lined console beside her seat that reminded her of the wood trim in Tommy's car. Barbara sat in her seat which had space for two people her size. She played with the array of buttons that adjusted the seat, the lighting and the various entertainment devices. She explored the nooks and crannies of the console and found pyjamas, a toiletry bag and a plethora of magazines. Her toiletries were a brand she only dreamt of using. She sparingly applied some of the silky moisturiser to her dehydrated skin on her hands and face. She knew she was grinning idiotically like a child at Christmas. Of course she was furious at Tommy for having organised this for her but it was clear she was not going to be moved back to her old seat. She would enjoy this but never give him the satisfaction of admitting it. As she sipped her champagne and allowed the massage function to remove the cattle-class knots from her back she started to work on her 'how dare you use your money to upgrade me speech'.

"Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Dave Gregson, First Officer on this flight and along with Captain Paul Howard we want to welcome you aboard QF2 to Sydney. Unfortunately there will be a short delay before take off while we wait for a passenger from a connecting flight. His plane has landed and we expect him to be boarding very shortly. We apologise for any inconvenience. In the meantime sit back and relax and enjoy the complimentary drinks being served by our cabin staff."

Barbara was not concerned by the delay. She was enjoying her experience. There were a few spare seats including the one next to her. This was going to be a comfortable flight.

Tommy was first off his plane and was escorted through security and onto a golf buggy which drove as fast as it could to his new gate. He arrived looking unruffled and calm at the door of the plane but internally he was nervous._ What if Barbara makes a scene?_ He dreaded but also looked forward to seeing her reaction. He was handed his boarding pass, seat 11C. He took a deep breath and followed the hostess. He stored his suitpack in the closet and sat gently in his seat. Over the dividing screen he could just see her red hair glinting in the morning light coming through her window. He pushed the button to lower the screen. As she looked over he smiled and said in his smoothest, most aristocratic tone, "good morning Sergeant Havers."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note:** I never said this would move fast…

* * *

"Sir! It can't be! How did you...?"

Tommy watched her eyes carefully. Her first reaction had been pure shock followed quickly by delight before a flash of anger. Now her eyes vacillated between relief and mistrust. "Hillier sent me," he said quickly noticing her eyes change to concern. "Rufus is missing again. They were transferring them from Wollongong to Sydney and near the airport the car was forced off the road by two armed men. The father was shot in a gun battle with the police and in the confusion the boy ran off pursued by one of the men. The police chased them. They arrested that man and the other was killed. They can't find Rufus."

She had been preparing her speech for use later but now he was here and Rufus was missing it seemed pointless to be angry. She shook her head. "Are they completely incompetent? How hard is it to protect a little boy?"

"I don't think anyone suspected they would be targeted Barbara."

"Maybe they've found him by now," she said hopefully. It would have happened at least ten hours ago.

"Not yet. This was timed for me to see when I landed." Tommy showed her his phone. The message from Hillier simply read 'Still missing. Brief Havers.'

"How did you get here so fast? Charter a private jet?"

"Emirates had a flight leaving three quarters of an hour after yours. I had to pull some strings but I got a seat and transfer onto this plane to see you,"

"And they didn't have anything in Economy I suppose."

"I didn't ask."

Barbara wanted to make him feel bad for upgrading her without asking even though she was begrudgingly grateful. His arrogance though still annoyed her. He had no concept of how most people needed to live. "No, you prefer to spend your money on comfort."

"Yes I do. I see no point in playing sardines for a day when I don't have to."

"So why upgrade me?"

Tommy looked at her as if she were a simpleton. "I see no reason for you to suffer either and I needed to brief you on developments so we can work out a plan. Besides, I can imagine what you would say when you saw me get off in Sydney."

"Excuse me Lord Asherton, Ms Havers," a stewardess interrupted, "but you didn't pre-order your meals and chef would like to know what you would like for your lunch." She handed them a menu and moved away.

"Oh, Lord Asherton is it? So much for hating to use your title!"

"Do you know how hard it is to get a seat on a plane due to leave in less than two hours?" he said in a clearly exasperated tone.

"I've never tried." Barbara felt it was necessary to put up some form of argument even if she had little heart for it.

The hostess returned. Tommy ordered sushi followed by grilled swordfish with an eggplant salad and a tropical pavlova with berry coulis for dessert. Barbara stared at her menu not recognising anything that sounded like real food. "Do you have steak and chips?" she asked somewhat sarcastically.

Tommy cringed and focussed on the hostess who had leant slightly across him to talk to Barbara. She had a nameplate that said her name was Suzanne and that she spoke German as well as English. Her face was impassive but he could see in her eyes that she had managed customers a lot more difficult and belligerent than Havers.

Suzanne was completed unruffled. "How would you like your steak Ms Havers? And do you prefer fat chips or fries?"

Tommy smiled wryly which caught Suzanne's eye. She beamed back a refreshingly genuine smile before moving away. He turned to his partner to see her eyeing him strangely. He knew instantly she assumed he intended to bed the hostess. Suzanne was quite attractive with thick blonde hair and high cheek bones that highlighted her dark blue eyes. It had not occurred to him to proposition her but he decided to play that up to rankle Barbara given she was in one of her moods. "There's a chef up here Barbara so they will cook almost anything. Suzanne seems very nice. I wonder if she lives in Sydney." He smiled, satisfied at her audible huff.

Barbara fumed. He was far more interested in the damned airborne waitress than he was in her. She knew he had every right to be but that annoyed her more. "I'm sure she will live wherever you want her to m' lord!" she replied, her voice thick with suppressed anger.

"I thought that would upset you," he chuckled, "believe it or not I'm not that conceited, nor that shallow Barbara. I thought you'd know me better by now."

"I do…" she replied hesitatingly.

Tommy sighed. "I used my title because I needed leverage to get on this flight. You shouldn't be angry with me for wanting to be with you." He saw confusion in her eyes and realised that his words had sounded awkward. "Travel with you,' he corrected, "so I could brief you… and so we reach Sydney as soon as possible rather than waiting half a day."

She had been about to apologise until his last sentence. Barbara thought back to her imaginings when she was in her seat at the back of the plane. She had wanted him to arrive and rescue her and now that he had she hated the fact it was for innocent, work-related purposes. "Will the Met pick up the bill or am I indebted to you?"

Tommy became angry at her continued truculence. "You're not indebted to anyone Barbara. Most people would be grateful that someone thought enough of them to spend money to upgrade them and to want to sit next to them. You, it seems, are not one of those people. You're too busy trying to justify your belief about our differences that you completely ignore all our similarities. Well on the return leg you can sit wherever you please. I however will be up here lying flat and enjoying the flight! And if I hear the relative merits of Acton and Eton mentioned now I will personally escort you back to Economy!"

"Sorry," she mumbled, "I don't mean to sound ungrateful. It's just that…"

"Your pride forbids you from seeing past my money and title or rank and seeing me as your friend. You've made your point Barbara. I think I'll listen to some music until the meal arrives." He clamped his headphones onto his ears and pressed the button to make the screen between them rise.

It was not the first time they had argued and one or other had stormed off. This time however she knew it was completely her fault. She took a deep breath and pressed the button to lower the screen. Tommy looked over but kept his stony expression and made no attempt to remove his headphones. She pointed at his ears and made a gesture. He reluctantly removed them. "What Sergeant?"

"I'm sorry Sir," she said contritely. "I was wrong to say that. I am grateful for you upgrading me. I'm worried about this whole trip and more so now Rufus is missing. He's alone in a strange city, a strange country really and I'm scared something dreadful has happened to him. I'm angry at everyone in this forsaken colonial outpost that we're being forced to travel around the world to get to but I'm glad you're here."

"Really?"

She nodded and smiled shyly. "Yeah, we're a team remember?"

Tommy knew how hard it was for her to admit she was wrong. He could not reach out and hug her shoulders or any of the other friendly gestures he used so he put his hand over hers as it lay along the armrest between them and stroked her fingers gently. "And a damned fine one at that Barbara."

The gesture felt intimate but she rationalised it as her being tired; and confused by her silly fantasies and stories for Jake and Jenny. He was looking at her with friendly, relieved eyes but she knew how to make them smile. "None finer…Tommy," she said cautiously.

He grinned back at her in a way that instantly stirred her mind and her body. When his grip tightened she unconsciously grasped his thumb to ensure he did not pull away his hand. He was staring past her eyes into her soul. He had looked at her once before like that when he had been in her flat confused about his marriage and his life. That look had passed too quickly and she wanted to enjoy this moment as long as she could.

Tommy was tempted to lean over and kiss his argumentative, infuriating but completely bewitching sergeant. He knew he was grinning like a love-struck schoolboy but he had waited so long to hear her call him by name he did not care. He squeezed her hand and felt a surge of love when she held his thumb. Her eyes were soft. They looked inviting. He moved towards her slowly giving her the option to move away but she stayed perfectly still, almost frozen.

"Your dinner Lord Asherton, Ms Havers," Suzanne announced.

Tommy pulled back and they both guiltily released their grip. The stewardess laid their pull-out tables with crisp, white linen clothes and arranged the silver cutlery. Tommy's sushi was served first and Barbara peered curiously at the rolls of seaweed, rice and raw fish. "Want some?" he offered.

"No! It's raw. Probably got sea worms."

Tommy raised his eyebrows in amusement. "Sea worms?" he chuckled.

"Hmm," Barbara confirmed to hide her embarrassment. If raw meat had worms raw fish must have some sort of parasite. She watched him eat with a mix of fascination and horror.

Her steak was succulent and tender and the crisps were crispy and flavoursome. "This is pretty good," she admitted.

"So's my swordfish. I'd expect Australians to be able to cook a decent steak."

"Yeah, I suppose," she said grudgingly, "they probably have a barbeque strapped to the wing."

Tommy nearly choked on his fish. "Is there a reason you aren't keen on our antipodean friends?"

"Yes," she said without explanation.

"I see. So what was his name?"

Barbara looked up shocked that she had been that transparent. "Craig, he was from Sydney. He was over in London on a working holiday."

"I'm sorry Barbara. Did he break your heart?"

"Amongst other things. I really don't want to discuss it while we're eating."

"I'm sorry anyone did that to you. I know how it feels but you don't deserve that." Barbara smiled back at him but he decided it was time to return to safe ground before he said something undignified. "Now about this case."

For the next hour they went over everything they knew and worked out ways to deal with the local police. They had reclined their seats so that they could still see each other and converse easily but could enjoy the benefits of raised legs and the massage function. Barbara seemed to relax and when he had turned on his side to face her he had been pleased she had mirrored him. Although he had been tempted to reach out over the low centre armrest and caress her, he refrained. If he touched her now he would kiss her too and even though the cabin lights were low this was not the place he wanted to remember as their first kiss. It would be even worse if she objected.

Barbara yawned and Tommy glanced at his watch, now set to Sydney time. They had ten hours until they landed. "I think we should try to get some sleep Barbara. We have no idea how much we will get in the next few days."

She nodded and fluffed up the feathery duvet that Suzanne had given her. She was enjoying their time together but she was tired. "Night...Tommy."

"Sweet dreams Barbara," he replied as he pulled his duvet up to cover his ear. Neither of them raised the privacy screen.

Tommy woke to the sound of the breakfast trolley. He studied his watch. It was a quarter to four. He groaned and closed his eyes. Despite sleeping well on the soft, flat bed it was still an ungodly hour.

"Sleep well Sir?"

Barbara's face was in front of him when he opened his eyes again. "Yes, and you? What happened to Tommy?"

"I forgot. Yes, it is so much better than Economy. Thank you for paying and sorry again for being stupid about it."

"You're welcome," he said grinning broadly at her words and the tussled mess of her hair. _So this is what you will look like every morning when we wake._

"You do realise I will never be able to travel Economy ever again," she joked.

"Hmm, yes. Well when we go overseas again I shall factor your needs into my budget."

Barbara laughed but decided to prolong the joke. "I rather fancy the USA next time or South America perhaps."

"Right I'll take you to New York for our anniversary but right now I am going to freshen up."

"Anniversary?" Barbara regretted speaking as soon as the sound escaped her lips.

Tommy realised what he had said. In his dream they had married and were going to Sydney for their honeymoon. It took him a second to remember where he was and why. His face coloured with embarrassment. He thought quickly and decided he would be happy to pay if she wanted to go. "Well we've worked hard for ten years and we have leave coming up." He turned and walked to the bathroom leaving Barbara to think whatever she would.

Barbara was speechless. _Did Tommy just ask her to holiday with him in New York? _She closed her eyes and thought about wandering the streets of New York, seeing a musical or play and walking hand-in-hand over the Brooklyn Bridge – she had always wanted to do that. Then she shook her head and went to the other bathroom.

They ate breakfast in awkward silence punctuated by inane comments about Sydney and the weather. The plane began to descend and they again started to talk about Rufus. It was safe, comfortable ground.

The Immigration procedures were thorough, brusque but relatively quick. As they started to walk down the stairs towards the exit Tommy draped his arm casually around her shoulder. "We'll find him Barbara."

Neither of them had checked luggage but as they walked past the baggage carousels Barbara heard a voice she had hoped to avoid. "Barb, there you are!" Jenny said as she came up to them. "We wondered where you got to but I understand now. Hi Tommy, I'm Jenny. This is Jake."

A man not easily caught off guard Tommy dropped his arm from her shoulder and shook their extended hands. He greeted them warmly despite having no idea who they were or how they knew him.

"Jake and Jenny were next to me for the first leg," Barbara explained wishing the earth would open to swallow her.

"Barb told us all about you," Jenny blundered on nudging Barbara in the ribs, "you were right he is gorgeous. You're a very lucky man Tommy. And to fly out to be with you! How wonderfully romantic. Enjoy Sydney. See ya!" With that they disappeared back into the growing crowd waiting for their bags.

"I DID NOT say you were gorgeous! I would never say that." Her face was so red she could feel the blood burning in her cheeks.

Tommy laughed. "That's disappointing." He could imagine how the conversation might have gone for a single woman travelling with a couple. She would not have tried too hard to disillusion them and in fact probably played it up. He was pleased in a way his presence had confirmed her story.

"Stop it. They misunderstood me when I said you were my partner," she lied checking his face to see if he believed her. It was unreadable but his eyes were smiling. "I said you were tall and dark and rich. She must have assumed you were gorgeous."

"All of which is true," he said seriously before he started to laugh at the mortified look on her face. "Don't worry _Barb_, I understand."

As they exited the arch onto the concourse they both forgot the awkwardness and unexpected events of the flight. They scanned the row of faces and signs looking for their contact. Barbara spotted him first standing halfway to the door which a handwritten sign that said 'Lynley and Havers'. "Over there,' she said pointing to a tall, blonde young man with neatly styled hair and a brown suit.

As they walked over Tommy whispered, "never trust a man in a brown suit."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. It was just advice my father gave me." Tommy did not look at her but he could feel her eyes questioning him. He had said it deliberately to make her feel more comfortable but he had always wondered why his father had said it.

"DI Lynley, Sergeant Havers," Tommy said shaking the young man's hand.

"Oh, Detective Senior Constable Bill White, Sir," the man said clearly flustered, "we were expecting two men."

"Why?" Barbara asked, her anti-Australian bias coming quickly to the fore.

"I thought the woman in London said Bob Havers but you don't look like a Bob, unless you're Roberta of course in which case then you would, or could be a Bob…"

"Is there a problem Constable?" Tommy interrupted.

"No Sir. We only booked one room Sir, at the hotel."

"Oh great," Barbara groaned. At least Tommy could not think she had set this up because she had not even known he was coming.

"It's the middle of the Vivid Festival so accommodation is very tight near the city but I'm sure we can work something out," the young man said nervously.

"I'm sure you can," Tommy said pointedly, secretly hoping the entire city was booked out.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as they walked through the double glass doors of the terminal into the dark of pre-dawn the heat enveloped Barbara. "It's so hot," she said to Bill who looked at her strangely then checked his watch.

"It's only six o'clock Sarge. It'll get a lot warmer than this by lunchtime."

_Sarge? Disrespectful little upstart._ "I thought you were coming into winter."

"Yeah we are but we should still hit about twenty four degrees today."

Tommy was amused by the exchange. "Sydney's winter temperatures are almost the same as our summer ones Barbara, although we can have some hot days and they can have some cold ones. It's more humid here though which I think is what you're noticing."

Barbara rolled her eyes and followed the men across the road to the multi-storey carpark listening to them debate the influence of east coast lows, which she gathered brought bad storms during this time of year; another reason to dislike this wretched country. She sat in the back of the car to allow Tommy to stretch his legs. "I'll drop you at the hotel," Bill explained, "then pick you up later so y'can meet the others in the squad."

"Fine," she said coolly.

"A chance for a warm shower and a change of clothes will be excellent. Thank you Constable," Tommy said hoping to compensate for Barbara's rudeness.

Bill whisked the car onto a freeway. The first yellow rays of dawn stretched across the inky sky and as they swept around by the bay Tommy was impressed with the softness of the light across the water. Within a few minutes they had driven past a golf course, under the runway and up onto an elevated road heading past a second golf course with a backdrop of brightly lit container terminals and chemical plants. A little further on another golf course with enormous water traps attracted his eye. They sped past blocks of modern apartments interspersed with the facades of old warehouses and factories on the left and yet another golf course on the right. This one though was more undulating and covered by large established trees.

"Does everyone in Sydney play golf?" Barbara asked in disbelief.

"No, a few do I s'pose," Bill answered, "oh, this is a bit of a sand belt through here and the lakes and golf courses were part of the flood mitigation plan in the nineteen thirties. They're not bad courses but quite dear to be a member. Do you play Sarge?"

"Me? No! And don't call me Sarge please Constable."

Bill's faced turned red and he mumbled an apology. Tommy felt sorry for the young man who was trying so hard to be helpful. "How long have you been a detective?"

"Shows doesn't it. Sorry Sir. Three weeks. I was fast tracked at the Academy. I spent two years up country in Orange then three up The Cross but then my chance came a few weeks ago to join Sydney City Local Area Command."

Tommy smiled at the nervous young man. "I'm sure you'll make an excellent detective. What can you tell us about the case?"

Bill started to relax as he began to discuss work and Tommy could instantly see he had a sharp intellect despite his dubious taste in suits. Roo's father had been heavily in debt with a gambling syndicate that was linked to a paedophile network. "We think Woods may have kidnapped his son to pay off the gang. You know, provide a new boy for their, er...purposes."

Barbara was angry and horrified. "Is there any evidence of Roo having been abused?"

"I don't think so but the local boys down The Gong will have a better idea. The Boss will be able to tell you more. I think we'll go down there later today."

Bill turned off the freeway onto Cleveland Street, a narrow road lined by shops and terrace houses in muted creams and greens. Barbara had little interest in the city or its architecture. The gum trees that lined the footpaths were alien, with layers of white and grey peeling bark. The spearheaded leaves were drab and dry, not like the softer, succulent green leaves of English trees. It seemed a harsh country; arid, hot and impersonal. The jagged city skyline was silhouetted against the morning light with tall, impersonal towers of steel and glass. One reminded her of a cupcake on a pole. Many of their cousins were starting to grow along the Thames too but that did not mean Barbara had to like them.

The hotel was crammed into a busy part of the city near a major railway terminus and looked cheap, noisy and soulless. It was no worse than many of the places they had stayed in England but Tommy looked at Barbara and knew her fears matched his own; Bill had said a single room. "Do you mind waiting here a few minutes Bill?"

"Yeah, no worries Inspector," he replied cheerfully.

Tommy and Barbara entered the foyer. It was pleasant enough in a bland, utilitarian fashion. Tommy could see it catered mainly to the tourist market with its unframed photographs of koalas and kangaroos adorning the walls above the racks of tourist leaflets in a multitude of languages. Tommy explained to the receptionist the problem but was informed that they had no second room. They were offered an inspection. The room was smaller than his office and the red sandstock feature-brick wall behind the bedheads seemed to close it in further. Two large single beds with bedspreads covered in a loud floral print filled the room with only a foot or so of space to shuffle around them. The ensuite was tiny. The sliding door revealed a space the width of the plastic pre-moulded shower recess on the left. A tiny sink below a mirror framed in white plastic was directly in front of the door and a toilet on the right faced the shower.

"It'll be like staying in the caravan," she said trying to sound positive. Tommy looked at her and raised his eyebrows.

"No, I'm sorry," Tommy said firmly, brooking no argument from Barbara. "I'll find us somewhere with two rooms."

They returned to the car and as Tommy settled into his seat he pulled his black-rimmed reading glasses and phone from his pocket. The glasses were a necessity these days but they reminded him he was getting older. Sadly he felt no wiser. After a few minutes Tommy showed Bill his phone. "Take us here please Bill."

Bill's jaw dropped. "You sure Inspector? It's pretty exy."

"Exy?"

"Expensive. It's one of the dearest pubs in Sydney! Especially with its views during Vivid."

"I know someone there who'll give me a good rate." Tommy did not want to raise his wealth with Bill but he was amused by the young man's appreciative whistle.

"Mates rates. No worries."

Havers was grateful Tommy had found two rooms. It would have been impossible to hide her feelings in that confined space but she was concerned about him paying. She was beginning to become far too indebted to him. What annoyed her most was that she was beginning to accept his gestures without feeling he was abusing his wealth. She knew he was simply being thoughtful, as he had always been - even when he arrogantly redecorated her parents' house. She had come to love his generosity and kindness but it had been far easier to object when she could not understand his point of view.

"What's this Vivid?" Barbara snapped impatiently trying to avoid thinking about Tommy.

Bill looked in his rear vision mirror and smiled at her. "It's a festival of colour. They light up everything with projections of pictures and laser lightshows; the Coathanger, the Opera House, The Rocks, and all the old sandstone buildings in the CBD. It draws huge crowds and there are fireworks and laser shows at Darling Harbour and concerts."

"Sounds like fun," she answered clearly indicating she felt the opposite. "Is everything in this country called 'the'? Makes it sound as if you only have one of them."

Tommy saw Bill's face fall and felt the need to apologise. "It's been a long flight. We're just a little tired."

"Yeah, that trip's a bugger. Twenty four hours wedged into narrow seats with some bloke snoring next to ya and the sheila in front with her seat right back so ya can't even roll over. No wonder ya both a bit grizzly."

"Indeed," Tommy said guiltily but slightly miffed that the man thought he too was being rude.

The constable nodded but Tommy was annoyed that he felt obliged to cover for his partner again. He was trying very hard to make this trip as pleasant as possible under the circumstances and yet she was being stubborn and difficult. He briefly wondered why he loved her and blushed slightly at his answer. He found this sarcastic, prickly side of her alluring. Even in their first case it had fascinated him and made him determined to discover what lay beneath her aggression.

Bill impressed Tommy when he refused to be intimidated by Barbara. "Everything has to have a nickname here; it's just the way it is. The Coathanger is the Bridge, you know the Sydney Harbour Bridge, because it looks like a coathanger but a lot of things are just shortened like King's Cross becomes the Cross. And yeah, mostly we only have one of everythin' important. No point in creatin' waste is there, sarge...ant."

"So Wollongong becomes the Gong."

Bill laughed almost hysterically. "It's woollen-gong Sarge, not wall-ong-ong! Yeah, we tend to shorten everything I s'pose. Unless it is already short; then we lengthen it."

Barbara groaned. As they drove through the narrow canyons of buildings to their hotel Bill continued to chat about landmarks and placenames. Barbara sat fuming in the back understanding that she was being unpleasant but still resenting the victory she had heard in Bill's tone when he corrected her pronunciation. He seemed nice and did not deserve her vitriol. She was worried about Roo and had been concerned that she might have to spend a couple of nights in a small room with Tommy but had been disappointed when he had been so firm in his decision not to repeat their caravan adventure. It was hard not to be offended. She had enjoyed those few days but it seemed he had not. She had thought in recent weeks something was shifting in their relationship, right at the time she needed it to be steady. It seemed from his response it was not changing at all and it was simply her imagination. She steeled herself and forced her fantasies and hopes back into their hiding place where they belonged. Her face coloured with embarrassment for ever thinking anything had changed.

"I'm sorry Constable," she said as Bill opened the car door for her she step out, "I didn't mean to be rude. I appreciate you coming out at this hour to pick us up."

"No worries," he replied with a generous smile. He turned to Tommy and handed him a card. "I'll come back at seven forty-five. Any problems just give me a call. Do ya want me to wait to see if they 'ave a room?"

"No, I booked on my phone. Thanks again Bill," he said as he shook his hand.

Tommy had been forced to book one of the most expensive rooms in the all-suite hotel but if the pictures were accurate it would be worth it. Despite his feelings for Barbara it would have been inappropriate to squash into a small hotel room. This way they would have space and time to themselves. Here he would be able to focus on the case and not fight the temptation to kiss her every time he looked at her.

The hotel foyer was a stark contrast to the other hotel. It covered the entire bottom floor. The hotel site had been created by cutting away part of a hill and the effect was striking. Floor to ceiling glass panelling separated them from lush gardens that clung in crevices in a ten metre wall of orange-streaked, creamy sandstone created by the cut. Tommy checked in and with a slight nod of the receptionist's head the concierge clicked his fingers and a young man appeared to escort them to their room.

Barbara had expected two rooms but they were escorted to a large suite with two bedrooms and a common living area. The curtains were all drawn which emphasised the minimalist, modern feel of the suite. It was decorated in bold yet understated shades of grey and black highlighted by the rich, red cedar of the six-seat dining table and the huge desk under the window.

Her room was large. The king size bed was inviting with a bronze silk bedspread over which a generous portion of the crisp white linen had been folded back. A small box of chocolates sat on the fold with a handwritten welcome message from the hotel manager. Barbara shook her head. Trust Tommy to get gilt-edged service within ten minutes!

The bed was dwarfed beneath a padded headboard in a muted grey that stretched almost to the ceiling. A dark grey felt covered chair sat in the corner under a window that was shielded by stiff bronze taffeta and the softer folds of bronze netting. A large flat screen television was on a cedar dresser opposite the bed which had matching bedside tables. The lights were all flat to the surfaces. There was nothing in the room that was superfluous to function.

"Will I open the blinds ma'am?" the porter asked.

"No, thanks."

"Your bathroom is in here."

Barbara stepped into a Japanese bathhouse. The centrepiece was a large square bath set into the floor with low, square-line sliver taps and broad cedar surrounds. It was already three quarter filled with steaming silvery water. Behind it the creamy marbled wall reached the ceiling which had a row of silver pipes with large holes.

"That's your rainfall shower," the man said proudly, "the bathwater is changed daily at six a.m. via an automatic system so that your bath will be ready when you wake."

Barbara swung around to survey the rest of the room. A rack of different sized white, fluffy towels ran from the floor to above her head and two enormous and thick robes hung on hooks. Above the deep, square sink a series of four inch slivers of glass reminded her of peeking out from behind bamboo. It was an odd feature but as she stood and looked the images reflected coalesced into a seamless image. "How does it do that?" she asked as she moved in and out of its range to test its affect.

The young man grinned at her cheekily, "It's all done with mirrors ma'am!"

Even Barbara had to laugh but she stopped when the porter opened an opaque glass door to reveal a substantial toilet. "It has thirty-eight functions and you can programme your personal preferences for flushing, washing and drying."

Overwhelmed Barbara returned to the main living area to find Tommy standing by the window. He had opened the curtains and Barbara was awestruck. They were on the forty-ninth floor and the view was uninterrupted from beyond the world famous Harbour Bridge across Circular Quay and over the Sydney Opera House towards the mouth of the harbour. The rising morning light reflected off the crests of gentle waves like diamonds on a bed of deep blue velvet. A myriad of twinkling lights in the houses and apartments on the northern shore began to fade as the light grew steadily stronger. She moved to the window as the porter asked, "will that be all Sir?"

"Yes, thank you." Tommy crossed the room and passed the man a moderate gratuity. He walked back to the window and stood as close as he dared behind Barbara. If circumstances were different he would encircle her with his arms and start nibbling gently at the nape of her neck that was enticingly visible above the neckline of her jumper.

"What do you think of the view?" he asked.

"That it's expensive!"

"Hmm, but worth it," Tommy sighed edging slightly closer to her back. He found the view captivating, especially the bridge with its four sentinel pylons standing resolutely. The illuminated grey, rough-hewn granite looked like the sandstone that formed the colonial shapes of many of the buildings they had passed. Lights ran along the thick deck and spotlights picked out the details of the curves and beams of the steel-grey arch creating the illusion that it was turquoise against the lightening sky. The winking headlights of cars moving across it to the city made it shimmer.

"We're here to rescue Roo not stare at the view all day. Besides the bridge looks like the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle."

Tommy could tell by her tone that she was impressed but was never going to admit it. "Yes but it's quite a bit bigger and was started first. They are both modelled after the Hell's Gate Bridge in New York."

"How on earth do you know that?" she asked in amazement turning to look at him. He was standing so close that her shoulder brushed his chest. They both moved back at the shock of touching and she turned back so he could not see her blush.

Tommy was not going to tell her he had read it in the in-flight magazine. "I'm well read," he said smiling above her head and noting how her neck coloured. He put his right hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

"Anyway I'm going to have a shower and some breakfast. It's going to be a long day."

Tommy's room was smaller than Barbara's but decorated in the same theme. He left his door ajar and began to strip off his suit jacket, tie and shirt wondering if Barbara was watching. As he removed his watch and emptied his trouser pockets his phone buzzed.

"Barbara!" he called as he rushed back into the room. She stood by the window still staring out at the city she proclaimed to dislike.

She turned and frowned knowing that his tone was ominous. "What?"

"They've found the body of a boy matching Roo's description."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note:** I recommend koalanet slang dictionary as a companion if you are confused.

* * *

Barbara stared at Tommy, tears welling in her eyes. "Where?"

"I'm not sure. They are going to send through a photograph. No one here can really identify him. We should have taken photos back in Sheffield."

Barbara nodded and turned back to the window. "If it is him, I'll never forgive myself."

Tommy empathised completely. He walked over and placed his arm around her shoulder. "None of this is your fault Barbara, none of it."

They stood in silence waiting anxiously for his phone to buzz. Barbara leant into him and rested her cheek tentatively on his bare chest. His skin was warm and his smell comforting. He made no effort to move away so she closed her eyes and allowed time to stand still.

Tommy was guilt-ridden, partly because he should have done more in Sheffield to protect Rufus but mostly because standing with Barbara pressing her face against his chest he was content, almost happier than he had been in years. When one of her tears trickled down his stomach and she reached up to wipe away any more he pulled her to him and wrapped both arms around her protectively. Her hands briefly touched his sides then settled lightly on his hips grasping his belt. He could not tell her it would be alright, that it would not be Roo, because he did not know. On the balance of probability it was him. All he could do was to be there for her. "I'm sorry Barbara."

Neither of them moved for several minutes until his phone bleeped urgently. They sprung apart and looked at each other uncertainly before Tommy opened his message. Barbara stared at the screen. "Oh my god!" she reeled away and collapsed onto the black leather sofa uttering a deep keening sound.

Tommy rushed to her side and tried to hold her but her flailing arms pushed him away. "Barbara, it's okay. It's not Roo."

"I know,' she wailed, "but it's some other poor boy who will never grow up and whose mother will never hold him again."

"We'll find Roo," Tommy assured her, "I promise you Barbara." He stood and offered her his hand. "Come on, we need to have showers and get ready. Bill'll be here in a few minutes and the sooner we start the sooner Roo will be safe." Tommy could not justify his faith or promise but he would do everything possible to find Roo. He understood that his future happiness might rest on it.

Barbara looked up at him and could not help but calm down. He looked so certain. It was something she had always admired in him. She trusted him. She believed in him. She accepted his hand but warned him "you'd better be right this time Tommy."

Bill was waiting when they went downstairs twenty minutes later. "Feel better?"

Barbara made the effort to smile at him and sound friendly. "Yeah much thanks."

The drive was short and Barbara was surprised when Bill pulled into the underground carpark of a modest tower block. She did not know what she expected but the non-descript brown and glass office block was not it. The lift whisked them up quickly to level twenty-three. They moved through heavy glass doors with the New South Wales Police insignia etched into them and straight into a large open area filled with men and women in blue and grey suits bustling about. Huge banks of television screens dominated the internal walls with live feeds from CCTV around the city. Bill led them on a winding path around the workstations towards a large room blocked off from the rest of the floor by thick frosted glass panels. As they passed, Barbara stared out of the large windows that overlooked a different body of water and a lower pedestrian bridge, across which hundreds of workers in suits or overcoats rushed into the city. In the distance small green and cream ferries dashed around picking up commuters and traffic on the freeway streamed steadily towards the city's heart. There was a buzz about Sydney that reminded her of London but she was never going to admit that there was anything attractive about the place.

Bill opened the door. The room had a central wooden table. The long side wall was filled with photos, times and dates that had been linked with red arrows and blue symbols. This looked familiar and real. Barbara began to relax until she noticed all the men wore suits and the two women were in jackets and neat collared shirts. A quick glance told her everyone had carefully polished leather shoes. She looked down at her faded jeans, trainers and old coat and felt decidedly underdressed.

A huge man who seemed as wide as he was tall stepped forward and shook their hands. "DCI Harry Davidson but call me Davo," he boomed, "welcome to the team."

"DI Thomas Lynley and this is DS Barbara Havers," Tommy replied politely as he shook the man's hand.

"So what do we call you both then?" the man asked, his ruddy complexion darkening slightly.

Tommy frowned, unsure how to respond so Davo continued, "We're not into formalities here Inspector. I'm Davo, Chief or Boss. We don't use Guv in Australia and I know the English often refer to their junior officers by their surnames but here it's considered disrespectful. We use nicknames, first names or rank. So what do we call you two?"

Tommy had never really had a nickname other than Tommy and he had never considered one for Barbara. "We're happy to fit in with local customs," he said reassuringly while he glanced at Barbara to ensure she was not going to make a fuss.

Barbara nodded and waved awkwardly. "Hi."

"No one calls me Guv either…thankfully. I'm Tommy," he said as cheerfully as he could while trying to judge the approval of those in the room, "but Barbara is generally, well, Barbara."

The officers laughed and Tommy was annoyed and a little bewildered. One of the older men was perched precariously on the edge of the timber table. He eyed them up and down. "Babs,' he declared adamantly.

"I prefer Barbara," she said boldly. She felt her face flush with anger.

The Australians all laughed. "You should never've told us that love," the man said gleefully.

Barbara looked at Bill for support but he simply shrugged and shook his head. Tommy shifted uncomfortably but she got the decided message to just let it lie. She disliked Australian men more and more with every passing minute.

"Right, now that's settled I'd better introduce the team." Davo pointed to his squad in turn. "The big mouth is DS Barry Selkirk or Bazza. He's as old as Methuselah and our resident ocker but he has the ear of the street and connections everywhere."

"G'day." The man who had nicknamed Barbara nodded to Tommy and winked at Barbara. He was the oldest man in the room. His mousy grey hair was receding leaving a shiny, bumpy skull that had more than its share of scars. His remaining hair had been shaved down to minimise his baldness but instead it made him look mean. Tommy noticed the heavy nicotine stains on his gnarled fingers. His cheap, grey suit was too loose and hung off his left shoulder matching his dishevelled demeanour. Tommy did not trust him and he was not a man to annoy which was why he had tried to stop Barbara arguing with him. They needed to find Roo and the officers in this room were his best chance of doing that quickly.

"Gibbo or DI Tony Gibson is on loan from the Vice Squad," Davo continued, "he's our link into the murkier aspects of this case."

"Pleased to meet you." A smallish man with dark glasses and a pale, serious face, he spoke with a slight British accent that intrigued Tommy who guessed he was about forty.

"Suffolk?"

The man looked surprised. "Originally. Moved here when I was ten so don't remember much."

The DCI continued his introductions. "DS Cameron Richmond. We call him Richo although he keeps trying to insist we call him Cam." The man had sharp, intelligent eyes and he smiled directly at Barbara. She could tell she had an ally. He was clearly the trendiest of the group in a designer suit, sharp hairstyle and a practiced bearing. He was not ordinarily the type she would align herself with but something about the way he looked at her told her he was on her side. She would call him Cam.

"Kosti, otherwise known as DC Alessa Kostopoulos." Alessa was dark, brooding and immaculately groomed. Her smile was artificial and Barbara disliked the way she had glanced scornfully at her but looked at Tommy as if she were sizing him up for dinner. She sensed the woman was a definite threat and could easily make trouble for her.

"Next is Martina Petrenko from our community liaison team. You can try calling her Pet if you're game but better to stick to Marty." The others snickered and Barbara felt embarrassed for her.

"Get lost Davo," she retorted laughingly, clearly unfazed and unoffended. The woman was overweight and slightly red in the face but she exuded friendliness and an inner peace that attracted Barbara. _Another ally._

"Whitey you've met and last but not least we have our operations officer, DS Arturo Fitsiori. Never call Fits that though if you value your life." The rest of the team laughed. Fits nodded laconically. He was a portly middle aged man who looked like his suit - well past his prime.

Davo had been watching Tommy closely, clearly assessing him. Tommy was confident he would be accepted. He was a few inches taller than the sandy-haired Australian and about half his weight. He had worn his navy suit with white shirt and royal blue tie. His shoes were polished. He fitted the image they seemed to expect. He only hoped that Barbara did not inform them he was the Eighth Earl of Asherton as he could tell that would lower his standing considerably in their eyes.

Tommy saw Davo turn his attention to Barbara. When saw a look of disdain he bristled. "I thought we might need to interview people on the streets today so I asked Sergeant Havers to dress casually."

Barbara looked up in surprise at Tommy's unprompted and unexpected defence of her. Her eyes thanked him then turned to Davo. He hid his disapproval quickly but not fast enough. Barbara was determined he would not intimidate her.

Davo puffed up slightly. "Yeah, well there's a time and place for undercover. As a general rule plainclothes here equals suits and ties. If we're investigating a murder or a rape it looks disrespectful to turn up in anything less. A man in our custody was killed and a young boy is alone somewhere in a strange city and I want those behind this found and convicted. People take you seriously if you dress seriously."

Tommy understood his point. In his earlier years he had always dressed in a suit but lately he had resorted to jeans and casual clothes. Davo was right though, how would he feel if someone turned up in jeans to investigate the murder of someone he loved? He might need to change his habits back in London. He looked across at Barbara waiting for her objection but none came. She was looking at the floor near her feet. "We understand…Davo," he said as evenly as he could, "and we want to find Rufus Woods alive and unharmed. You have our full co-operation I assure you."

"Good," Davo said with a genuine smile, "Okay, let's get started. Maybe we should begin with some background from your case."

As Tommy started to run through the events in Sheffield a man knocked and entered the room with cups of coffee and a stack of bacon and egg sandwiches. Tommy gratefully grabbed a cup. "We believed the father was the most likely suspect but we had no confirmation until you contacted us."

Fits took up the story. As soon as he started to talk Tommy changed his mind about him. He was astute and detail minded and as he outlined the case from arresting Woods to the attack on the car Tommy could see he had thought through motivations and possible actions. "It was co-incidence that they were spotted comin' into Sydney via Cairns. The passports were good forgeries and we believe they were obtained in Switzerland. They flew via Singapore to Port Moresby and then into Cairns. Not a route we would be expecting people fleeing England to use. We also found another man on that plane, travelling on tickets booked through different agents, who was also on those same flights. It is too much of a co-incidence for 'im not to be connected but unfortunately we didn't know that at the airport so he slipped through."

"Do you have a photo or description?" Tommy asked.

"That's him there on the left taken from the airport CCTV," Bill White said pointing to a photo on the wall. "He sorta matches with an early photo of Wood's brother John but he's got no criminal record so we don't have much to compare and the bloke we captured at the shooting is not co-operating."

"So if they were apprehended at the airport why were they sent to Wollongong and who knew when they were being returned here?" Barbara asked taking care to get the pronunciation correct.

It was Gibbo who answered. "The local boys wanted 'em down there to investigate the links to a Macedonian paedophile gang. Someone there must've tipped 'em off."

"So we can't trust the local police there," Barbara said half as a statement and half as a question.

"Look Babs, no one wants to cause a blue by accusin' someone of bein' crooked but yeah, someone there must be on the take," Bazza said from the back of the room, "I'd start by looking at the Maco officers."

Tommy and Barbara looked at each other perplexed. No one offered to translate. "I'm not sure I understand," Barbara said.

Bazza looked at her and spoke slowly. "You don't look like yer a roo short in yer top paddock but yeah, it looks like we can't trust 'em. Ethnic bonds run pretty deep there so it is probably one of the officers of Macedonian extraction." He had over enunciated his last sentence as if he were speaking to a simpleton."

"Bazza, quit it. We have to remain open to all possibilities," Davo admonished.

Barbara stared at him. He represented everything she disliked about this country. "My roo's are fine, just a little slow to get hopping after the flight."

Cam laughed and smiled at Barbara. "Did the boy say anything that might give you a clue where he might go? Any relatives he might have mentioned? Family friends?"

"No. He didn't remember much about Australia but he has a photographic memory so if something was triggered he might go there. Do you have previous addresses for the family?"

"Yeah, nothing in Sydney. Everything's down in the Illawarra."

Tommy frowned and Cam pointed to the map. Barbara came closer and stood in front of Tommy. "This is the city here," Cam said, "Rufus ran away here in Redfern. This area here is the Cross - Kings Cross where most homeless kids end up. Down here past the Royal National Park we run out of Sydney suburbs. This area here on the coast around Lake Illawarra is called the Illawarra. Wollongong is the city and these are its suburbs. Roo's dad lived here at Warrawong. He worked here at the steelworks. He grew up here at Port Kembla and his wife grew up here at Unanderra."

"Any remaining family?" Tommy asked.

"His parents are both dead. The mother several years ago and the father about twelve months ago from cancer. He has a brother, John. No mention of his wife's father, even on her birth certificate. Her mother, Christine, seems to have disappeared from the records about four months before Michelle Woods took Rufus overseas. No death record, no marriage but she stooped filing tax and closed her bank accounts. We have people trying to track her."

"Do you think he'd stay in Sydney?" Tommy asked, "Or try to make his way back there?"

Fits shrugged his shoulders. "We just dunno. We thought maybe you'd have an idea seein' you'd met 'im."

"Why the Cross?" Barbara asked staring at the map sipping at her coffee. Somehow she felt she was the key to predicting what Roo would do.

"It's where all the action is love," Bazza said smugly, "nightclubs, drugs, prostitutes, criminals, gays, street kids. They're all there...in spades. Been like that since the Second World War 'cause it's just up the hill from the old wharves and the navy base. Young boys go there to make money at the Wall."

Cam looked embarrassed. "I doubt it Bazza, the area's been cleaned up and you know it. Besides the kid's only nine."

"The Wall?" Tommy asked suspecting he knew the answer.

"It's an old convict era goal, here, that's now an art school. The big sandstone wall on Darlinghurst Road was notorious for many years as a gay pick-up spot. Boys could make enough for food or drugs. I doubt he'd go there," he added seeing the alarm on Barbara's face.

Tommy looked at the board and the map. "Where was the other boy killed?"

"Here at Newtown, it was a hit and run. His mother reported him missing a few hours ago. Apparently he had gone done the street for milk."

"Poor kid. What was he wearing?"

"Jeans, runners, and a black hoodie why?"

"What did Rufus have on when they were attacked?"

Fits looked blankly at Tommy. "No idea. Anyone?"

Marty thumbed through some papers in a folder then swore. "Jeans, runners and a black hoodie."

"Someone mistook him for Roo and ran him down. Now they either think they succeeded or they are still looking."

Kosti moved next to Tommy. "They will know soon. We released the story to the news an hour ago."

Tommy turned to Barbara. "What do you think?"

"His mother taught him to hide. He's a smart kid but he's in a strange city. He's going to need help. I think his grandmother is still alive and he knows where she is. I think he try to contact her."

Bazza groaned. "There's no proof she's still kickin' and how are we gunna find her?"

They all stared at each other. Tommy's phone buzzed and broke the silence. "DI Lynley. Yes Sir…did they get any more information?...thanks…yes Sir."

Barbara frowned at him. "About the case?"

"Yes, that was Hillier," he said to her then remember his audience, "my boss in London. Roo phoned our office looking for Barbara. They did not realise it was him until the message was given to Winston who took it to Commissioner Hillier. It came through about an hour ago. So he is still alive. The officer taking the call told him you were in Sydney."

"Oh thank goodness," Barbara said, "at least we know he is alive and must have some money. He might try to call the police here."

Tommy shook his head. "I doubt he trusts the police here after what happened. The number he called from came up on caller id so the officer recorded it. They've sent it through to your team so it can be traced."

"Good, we might finally get a break here," Davo said as he bit into his sandwich just as his phone rang. He caught a drip of egg that was squeezed out and threatened to drop onto his shirt. "Davidson," he barked, "well I'll be blowed."

"Drama Boss?" Kosti asked.

Davo looked up at his team. "That was the morgue. The man that was shot was not David Woods."


	7. Chapter 7

"So who the hell is he?" Bazza asked.

"They don't know. Woods' boss came up to identify him but didn't know the man. He had a photo of Woods on his phone though so they're sendin' it through."

Davo stared back at the board. "We need to trace Woods' steps last week. See if we can find where he went. Baz take Whitey and get down there. Go through the local boys like a dose of Epsom salts. Find any leads then go to the steelworks and talk to his mates. Stay in touch with Fits."

Bazza suddenly moved with purpose. "No worries Boss. Y'can drive this time," he said tossing a set of car keys to Bill.

"Marty, start to put together a list of all the key players and their family and colleagues. I want all the details - names, addresses, when they last showered if you've got it. Share it on the app so everyone can have it." He turned to Tommy. "You got a smartphone or tablet?"

"iPad."

"Then set 'im up get 'im one of our spare SIMs too or it'll cost the Met a fortune. Richo, take Barbara and...hang on." Davidson's phone rang loudly. "Davidson...yeah...okay...no problem."

He hung up and clapped his hands to get the attention of everyone. "Right, listen up. They traced the call from the boy to a public phone on Wollongong railway station..."

"You mean he found one that worked down there? The kid really is a genius!" Gibbo interrupted and everyone except the English detectives laughed.

"Yeah, righto. Settle down. This gives us our best clue. He's somewhere in the Gong so we need to focus our attention there. Richo, take Barbara there and start at the railway. I'll see if we can get CCTV to give us more clues as to where he went. Ring Fits when you get there and we might be able to fine tune it for you."

"What about Inspector Lynley?" Barbara asked. She did not want to be separated.

"I thought he could go with Kosti and start following up on the grandmother. Talk to old neighbours, use his charm. See what we can find."

"But we're a team," Barbara said, "I think we should stay together."

"I don't have enough officers to start tripling up Sergeant. I can't let the two of you out alone. For a start you don't know the place let alone how people here think and you're not licenced to carry a weapon. You'll have phones if you get too lonely." His tone was not threatening, nor was it sarcastic and Tommy could understand his point.

"It'll be fine Davo," Tommy said smoothly, "but we might just have a quick word before we head off."

Davo nodded and Tommy opened the door. He found a quiet spot by the window. "Look Barbara I know this is hard but Roo has to be our first concern. Richo or whatever they call him seems friendly and sensible. I trust him with you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Barbara bristled at the implication she needed looking after.

"That I can relax because you'll be safe with him. We don't know this city or this country. We can't treat it like England but I would have objected if they'd paired you with Bazza."

Barbara relaxed a little. "Yeah well Kosti's like a barracuda. Watch yourself with her because I don't think you're safe."

Tommy tried hard to keep a straight face. "Why if I didn't know better Babs I'd think you were jealous."

"I'm not jealous! And don't you EVER call me Babs! I just don't want you to be lured into some sort of trap by her fancy clothes and sweet smile. She's after you and I don't want you to...feel used."

"Feel used?" Tommy said chuckling, "most men dream of being used by someone who looks like that." Barbara glared at him. "But I'm not most men," he added hastily.

"Well enjoy your day being shown the sights!" Barbara turned and stormed back into the room. Tommy was slightly stunned but delighted. Why would she be angry and jealous if she did not have feelings for him? He might be able to tell her how he felt once they found the boy.

Back inside Davo was still assigning roles. Fits was staying to monitor everything and work with Marty on keeping everyone informed. Gibbo and Davo were going to investigate the paedophile connection with the team upstairs in Vice. "Check in with Fits please everybody, when you arrive and then at least every two hours. Hopefully we can end this today. Good luck and stay safe."

Cam led Barbara to a large white sedan in the car park that looked like every other car there. "You all wear suits and drive the same cars. Is there any originality in this country?" she asked.

"It's a police car. We get different colours but essentially they're all the same. Isn't it like that in London?"

"No, detectives use our own cars," she said climbing into the passenger seat. "Tommy's is an old classic car of some sort. No mod cons at all."

"That'd be weird," Cam replied as he checked the safety catch was engaged on his service pistol before he settled into the driver's seat. "The Health and Safety guys here would never allow that."

Cam pulled the car out on the road while Barbara ogled the technology inside the car. It had a computer, an iPad, a large GPS and a radio arranged like a pilot's console. It looked like something out of Star Trek.

"Do you want to go back to the hotel first and get changed?"

"Why? Because I'm not neat enough for you?" she growled.

"No 'cause I saw your face when Davo talked about respect. I think it's important to you to be respected and blending in will help."

Barbara did feel Bazza and the others were so condescending partly because of her appearance. Tommy had dressed appropriately and she wished he had suggested that she wear her suit. She would raise that with him tonight when he got home._ Home? Bloody hell you're not living with him!_

"Yeah, ta Cam." He smiled broadly at her use of his preferred name.

She changed quickly into her navy suit and white blouse then rushed downstairs ruing that she had brought shoes with heels a little too high for policing. At least she would blend in, to a culture of reverse snobbery that she could not understand.

"Nice suit," Cam said with a smirk, "you look like a female version of Tommy. Is that the London copper uniform?"

Barbara had had about enough. She wanted to scream at him but managed to keep it to a more tolerable raised voice. "We didn't co-ordinate wardrobes because we started off on different flights! I thought Australians were supposed to be laid-back and casual and not care about appearances but you're all...I don't know, egotistical snobs!"

Cam simply laughed as he pulled out onto the road. "Not, really. We only tease people we like. You've only got one suit with you haven't you?"

"I've only got one suit! What I was wearing was what I usually wear to work," she confessed. "No one has ever spoken about the respect thing in England although Tommy used to wear suits all the time but that's just him. I understand it though, I'd just never thought of it that way."

"It's not a big deal Barbara. You're only here for a few days. I'll get them to lay off a bit. I think Davo was trying to establish his authority. He was pretty upset that Tommy was sent over. You were comin' because the boy trusts you but by sendin' him it looks as if The Met don't think we're up to it. You both come with pretty high raps as investigators and we get a lot of crap from the Poms, sorry the English, about being an unruly, layabout mob descended from convicts. He gave us all a speech about makin' sure we behave and don't get shown up. I think we were tryin' a bit too hard."

Barbara looked across and smiled at him. She liked his no-nonsense honesty and his sensitivity in calling her Barbara. "Thanks. I'm sorry. I never thought about how it would look to your team but we don't see it that way. We just want to find Roo."

Cam smiled and nodded. "I can see that. So whereabouts in London are you from?"

Tommy's journey was less pleasant. Kosti drove like a rally driver, dodging in and out of lanes as she threaded her way through the suburbs. When they crossed a bridge over a large river Tommy paused briefly to think the landscape was attractive but then he focussed again on watching the road. Tommy felt vaguely unwell and vowed never to complain about Barbara's driving again. To make it worse Kosti had grilled him constantly about his family: where he lived, where he went to school, where he went to university. He had stuck broadly to the truth simply omitting the size of his house in Cornwall and his title.

"Oh I love London. I went there for a few months when I backpacked around Europe. I always thought it was the one city I would love to spent time living in. Where do you live?"

"Inner London," he replied, "near work."

"How do your family find living in London?"

"I live by myself." Lynley could see that was only going to create more questions. "My wife died in an accident nearly two years ago."

"Oh, how dreadful! I'm so sorry. Had you been married long?"

"A few years. And what about you?" he asked trying to change the subject.

"Oh no, I'm single. I haven't met Mr Right yet but I know what I want."

"I'm sure you do," he said, fearing he fitted her criteria a bit too well. "Tell me about policing in Australia."

Half an hour later his phone buzzed. "Lynley."

"Hiya. It's me."

"I can tell that." It was wonderful to hear her voice after being confined with 'The Inquisitor' as he had dubbed Kosti.

"Cam thought we should stop at a place called Bulls Eye..." Barbara laughed at something said in the background. "No sorry Bulli Tops at the tourist centre. He and I have had a few ideas we thought we should discuss."

"Okay, just a minute," Tommy said then turned to Alessa. "It's Barbara they want us to stop at the tourist centre at Bulli Tops."

"Sure, we'll be there in about fifteen." He could tell her friendly tone was forced.

Tommy turned back to his phone. He could hear laughter. "Did you hear that? We should be there in a quarter of an hour."

"Good. We're about five minutes behind you. Stop it Cam! Okay see you there."

Tommy kept the phone close to his ear despite the beeping. Barbara and Cam seemed to be getting on very well. Cam was far too young for her but it was rare for her to be so at ease with someone so early. A surge of primal jealousy raced through him - Barbara was his sergeant, his partner. He inhaled to control his anger and stared out the window.

Cam was proving to be a good tourist guide. As they drove through the suburbs he explained their history and told her quirky stories of crimes and events. The pointed out landmarks as they drove through the bush bordering the national park and wound down the window making her smell the eucalyptus scent of the forest. Barbara had relaxed and enjoyed his company, begrudgingly admitting she had met an Australian male she liked.

"I've had an idea," Cam said excitedly, "and I won't be offended if you say no."

"I'm intrigued," she said cautiously.

"Would you ever wear used clothing?"

Barbara stared at him. "I've never thought about it but I'm not a charity case."

"Oh no, I know but most of my suits are second-hand."

"But they're expensive...and tailored."

"I have a secret," he said conspiratorially, "I buy them at a recycled clothing store run by my friend Davie. There's a bloke with my build who sells his clothes there and Davie rings me when he brings in somethin' I'd like. I was thinkin' you could pick up a couple of quality suits. They wouldn't look like you rushed out and bought them so everyone here'll think it's how you dress but you can buy two or three for the price of one. Most of them are sold by rich tossers from the Eastern Suburbs that can't be seen to wear anything more than half a dozen times. They're all clean and almost new. We could go over tonight after we get back."

Barbara was unsure but could see the logic. "No harm in looking I guess."

Cam gave her a broad, warm smile vaguely reminiscent of Tommy's. He pressed a button on his steering wheel. "Dial Sammy."

The car answered him. "Dialling Sammy at mobile. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

After a few rings a husky, lively voice answered, "Sammy Hilford, hair artist extraordinaire."

"Hi gorgeous! Listen..."

"Hello Lover! Am I on speakerphone again? Hi Whitey!" In a few short words Sammy had exuded an irrepressible love of life that made Barbara smile.

"Actually I'm not with Whitey today, I've got Barbara with me. She's from England."

"Hello Barbara. Ooh, there's a story, do tell."

By the end of the call Sammy had promised to arrange something with Davie for tonight and the boys had insisted on taking Barbara and Tommy out to dinner tomorrow night. Barbara hoped that she had not appeared shocked but as he rang off Cam apologised. "Sorry, I should have mentioned Sammy."

"No, that's fine," she replied.

"If you don't think Tommy will approve then..."

Barbara was genuinely surprised. "Why would he care? Anyway it's none of his business. Does everyone know?"

Cam looked at her and frowned. "Yeah, of course. I'm in the Police contingent every year for the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. I don't hide it."

"Okay well it's not a problem if Tommy finds out. I don't think the Met are quite so accepting. They tend to be rather stuffy at times."

"Is that why you and Tommy try to hide your relationship?"

"Oh we're not...we're just friends." Barbara felt the tips of her ears burning and hoped she had not blushed to hard.

Cam looked at her for a minute and cocked his head in thought. "Well it's got nothing to do with me but if you're not then you're mad. You both want it, any fool can see that, so just go for it. He's not married or anything is he?"

"Widowed."

"Then there's no impediment. Just follow your heart Barbara."

Barbara was spared further conversation as Cam turned off the highway and parked beside the tourist centre. Tommy was standing at the railing at the lookout behind the centre beside Kosti who was standing far too close as she pointed out landmarks. Still stunned by Cam's candid observation she wondered how to be less transparent. Calling him Tommy was not helping but she could hardly revert to Sir now. She sighed and walked towards them.

Cam spoke and Tommy turned. He ran his hand through his hair, pushing an errant lock back into place and smiled so earnestly that Barbara stumbled on the stony path. Cam's arms were around her in a second. "Careful!"

His anger at the easy friendship with Cam disappeared the instant Tommy saw her. He noticed that she had changed into her suit. The tapered trousers accentuated her hourglass figure. He liked it when she dressed up a little and stopped hiding behind oversized coats. He could not help but smile at some inappropriate and ill-timed thoughts. The smile vanished instantly when she tripped and Cam caught her. It was a reflex action but he hated seeing someone else's hands on her.

Barbara could feel Cam's hand in her back directing her to stand beside Tommy. He was certainly not subtle! "I had no idea we were so high," she exclaimed spotting the view. They were on an escarpment that dropped sharply down a verdant slope towards a thin strip of land and a vast expanse of peacock blue sea. Several long sweeps of golden sand were broken by grey, rocky headlands that stretched into the water like bony fingers.

The land was dotted with houses. Near the bush they were arranged in neat rows on large blocks and Barbara could almost see hundreds of men marching up and down their lawns every weekend manicuring them to perfection. By the beach a main road and a railway line broke up the suburban regularity. Large steel and glass mansions clung tenaciously to the headlands while smaller, older cottages with brightly painted roofs of red and green nestled under a canopy of large fig trees.

Looking south Tommy's attention was captured by the port. Huge ships bobbed in the sea, all turned into the tide and patiently waiting to collect or disgorge their cargo. To the left of the port entrance large mountains of coal waited for export and on the right, amongst long faded blue buildings covered in years of red dust, were long lines of iron ore awaiting processing into steel. Tall stacks belched fluffy clouds of white steam every twenty seconds as the coking oven were quenched. Railways and trucks moved amongst the buildings and Tommy imagined the noise and heat as coal, ore and limestone were transformed into molten steel then moulded and rolled into building products that shape so much of the world.

Cam pointed out the city and the lake to Barbara and told her about the suburbs and roughly where everyone in Roo's story lived. Tommy glowered at him but he seemed oblivious, confirming Lynley's view that the damned man was infatuated with his sergeant. He moved closer to Barbara so that they were almost touching. He heard a change in her breathing when she sensed how close he was standing. Her hands came up to grip the top of the steel railing as if she had to steady herself. He smiled at the affect he had on her and wondered if she was thinking about this morning by the window. _Does she know how I feel?_


	8. Chapter 8

An unscheduled chapter. Happy birthday Tess 4 5!

* * *

Barbara was still facing away from him, her hands gripping the railing. The tension between them was real, it was not her imagination. Her mind wanted her body to run but her heart wanted to ease back against him and her body had desires best ignored. This morning when he had stood behind her at the window she knew that she had been right; their relationship was drifting inexorably towards something dangerous. That was thrilling and frightening in equal measure.

"Barbara I think that's the railway station," Tommy said to regain her attention. "And why did you want to talk to us?"

Barbara took a deep breath and turned towards him. Their eyes met and instantly they were back to normal and focussed only on the case. "Roo must have had money to catch a train and make a phone call. The Met are not in the habit of taking reverse charge calls from young boys half way around the world."

"Yes and where would he get it? Kidnappers don't usually supply their victims with funds."

"Exactly, so...

"In the confusion Roo stole the wallet from the man who was shot."

"I think so. Cam said the man might have had an Oyster..."

"Opal," Cam interjected, "our travel card is called Opal."

"Opal card," she continued, "for the trains so if we rang Fits. They checked the CCTV and a boy matching his description_ did _use an adult card at Redfern at 4:40 am. The same card clocked out the trip at Wollongong at 6:20 am, about ten minutes before he phoned London."

"Brilliant work," Tommy said acknowledging both of them. "Do we have an ID on the owner of the card?"

Barbara smiled a little smugly. "One Pietr Toderovski."

"Toderovski? Macedonian?"

"Yep! I think we have a lead."

Tommy still struggled to refer to everyone by nickname but he tried hard to make it sound natural. "Have you asked Fits to place an alert on any of his bank accounts in case the boy tries to use them?"

"Does a kangaroo hop?" Cam replied.

Tommy was getting heartily sick of references to kangaroos. He had always thought they were cute but now he wondered if he ever met one how he would react. "So how do we pursue this lead?"

"Davo wants you to still chase up the grandmother this mornin' while he and Gibbo look into the background of Toderovski. We'll look for Roo and all then meet Davo at lunchtime to discuss the next steps. Baz and Whitey might have dug up somethin' too by then," Cam told them.

"Where?" Kosti asked pushing herself back into the conversation.

"The fish place down by the boat harbour at one."

"Right. Okay Tommy let's go. See ya then." Alessa seemed overly keen to separate her English colleagues.

"Let's think this thought first," Tommy said, refusing to be rushed. "We have a few different objectives, firstly to find Roo, secondly to break up this paedophile ring and thirdly to locate Woods, dead or alive."

"Yes, and we're working on all of them," Kosti said sweetly but with an undertone of exasperation, "the boy will be found quickly. How far can a small child go?"

"A lot further than most nine year olds would go," Tommy replied.

"He's smarter than the lot of us," Barbara said then looked at the hurt on her boss's face. "Well maybe he's no smarter than you."

"He knows you're here Barbara so he will lead you to him. The question is when and what is he doing first?"

"I don't follow," Cam said.

"He phoned London knowing Barbara would be told he had rung. He would have known when the police here were taking them to Sydney that she was already on her way from London. So he knew she wasn't there but rang anyway."

"That makes no sense," Kosti said, "why ring there and how did he even know the number?"

"Photographic memory. He sat at my desk for a while. We have our numbers on the phone and he..." Barbara replied.

Tommy interrupted her. "Doesn't trust the local police. He was taught to hide but I think he was also taught to run. I'll bet..."

"His mother gave him a plan in case his father ever got hold of him," Barbara continued.

"Do you two always finish each other's sentences?" Kosti asked acerbically.

Tommy and Barbara grinned at each other. "Yes," they replied in unison.

"The art of misdirection," Tommy said suddenly.

His statement even caught Barbara by surprise and she arched her eyebrow at him. "Hmm?"

"In his bedroom," he stated with certainty, "there was a book about magic. Magic is all about misdirection."

"So he will mislead us?" Cam asked.

"No, he'll misdirect others but lead me to him. He'll trust I understand," Barbara said comprehending Tommy's logic.

"If you follow the trail and we sort out the misdirection, we'll find him. And I think he intends to help us find his kidnappers too." Tommy was concerned that the boy might try something beyond his capabilities but he was not going to share that fear, even with Barbara.

"This sounds far too Sherlock and Watson for me," Kosti said, "here we work on facts, not theories and belief in the superpowers of a nine year old boy."

"Shut it Constable," Cam snapped, "for once just be open to new ideas. We might learn something."

Tommy was keen to remove any tension. "There's logic and fact but Barbara and I have worked together so long we have developed a system of shorthand; like you say we even finish each other's thoughts. Someone said the phone was on the city side of the station so I think he has probably headed into town."

"Strewth! If that's true he's a smart kid but it makes sense," Cam said, "hide in plain sight in a crowd. Harder for someone to find him or take him too without someone noticing he was objecting."

"Let's start there," Tommy said with authority, "begin at the station and work your way into town. Keep a close eye out for any clues because he will leave them. Alessa, we'll start with the grandmother's old house as planned. If he had a plan someone might know something."

"We'll stay in touch," Cam assured him.

Tommy nodded then turned to Barbara. "I hope you find him but be careful please - no heroics."

Barbara raised her eyebrows. "Yes pot!"

Tommy smiled at her with genuine amusement. "Nothing stupid, I promise kettle." He turned and followed Kosti to the car knowing Barbara was still watching him.

Twenty minutes later Cam pulled into a car space on the road near the railway station. They walked onto the platform and began to trace Roo's steps. The telephone booth was in a bank of three about twenty metres up the road. Barbara checked but there did not appear to be any messages or clues. A little further on there was a silver rubbish bin. Barbara looked in it. "Cam here!" she cried as she gingerly fished out a black hoodie.

Cam reached into his pocket and retrieved a neatly folded garbage bag. He helped Barbara search the pockets for a note then bagged it. "What?"

"How many more garbage bags to you have hidden there?"

"One but I have a roll in the car. You never know when you might find crucial evidence."

"Well see if there's anything else in the bin," she said laughing. She liked Cam and thought he was a very good policeman. She was learning things from him that might be handy.

As they walked back to car Barbara phoned Tommy. "We found his hoodie discarded in a rubbish bin near the station."

"He knows we'd've used CCTV to find him but if he saw the news he knows the men also know what he's wearing. He might try to buy something else. Check out the shops that a kid might use and see if Fits has had any hits on Toderovski's plastic. We're almost at the grandmother's old house. I'll ring you if we learn anything."

Cam dropped the bag in his car then led Barbara up to the main shopping centre. It was a medium sized complex in four main buildings, obviously constructed in stages over the last few decades. The newest block was glass and curved steel but the oldest was a dull cream facade reminiscent of a 1940s department store. The buildings clustered around a central pedestrian mall that had once been the main street. The paving and structures looked new and the trees looked like they were struggling to establish themselves amongst the hard, angular surfaces. The buildings were linked by glass walkways. Barbara scanned the enclosed bridges and open spaces for a familiar face. Being mid-morning schools were in session so there were only a handful of children and none of them were Roo. "Where would a nine year old shop for a jumper?" she asked.

"Most kids would probably go to the surf shop but you said he's not like most kids so probably one of the big department stores."

Barbara pondered Cam's words. "Think about what Tommy said about hiding in plain sight. Maybe that's exactly what he would do to blend in. Is there one near here?"

Cam checked a large board displaying a map. "Yeah, this block over here," he said pointing to the nearest building.

They found the brightly lit shop just inside the entrance. Barbara was dwarfed by an impressive line of pointy surfboards adorned with bold, aggressive insignias. In the middle of the shop shiny white and black plastic mannequins modelled a range of swimwear that she imagined would not be sturdy enough to withstand even a gentle wave. "Do people really wear these?" she whispered to Cam as she stared at a female model in a skimpy G-string bikini next to a male mannequin in what looked like small, very tight underpants, "I would have to arrest them for public indecency in England."

Cam chuckled loudly. "Yes they wear them and we nickname the men's racers that you can't keep your eyes off 'budgie smugglers'. Our prime minister wears them when he does surf races."

"How big are Australian budgies? That statute is..."

"Welcome in my house any day, now yes, come on we have a boy to find rather than look at swimming costumes!"

"Cam! You can't say that."

Cam pushed her towards the counter. "Why not? You were thinking it and you're as devoted to Tommy as I am to Sammy. No harm in window shopping."

Barbara knew her face was beetroot red as she introduced them to the young man behind the counter. In broad terms she explained that they were looking for a missing boy. Before they could finish the man nervously blurted out, "I knew he was under sixteen but he used Pay-Wave so it just went straight through. I didn't know how to reverse it and I figured no one would ever know."

"We're not interested in whether he used the card legally we just want to know when he was here and what he bought," Cam assured him.

"A red hoodie like this," the man replied as he pulled out a well-known Australian surf brand. "He insisted on something popular and this had been selling quickly this month. I thought he'd pay cash. He seemed to have plenty of it in his wallet. He also bought this tee-shirt and a backpack like this one. He said he was with his Mum but that she was letting him be all grown-up and buy it himself. He even offered to ring her when I wasn't sure."

"So he had a phone with him?" Barbara asked.

"Yeah, fairly expensive too for a kid."

"What time was he in?" Cam continued the questioning.

"About half nine"

"Did he say where he was going or where he was from?"

"Yeah, he mentioned going surfin' at Kiama. We talked about the break at Bombo."

"Are they local beaches?" she asked.

"Sorta, they're about forty clicks south."

"That doesn't sound very local to me."

The man looked at Cam then back at Barbara. "You haven't been in Australia long 'ave ya?"

"Did he say anything else?" Barbara asked as her phone began to ring.

"No, he was a polite kid. Didn't really strike me as a surfer but he said he was takin' lessons because he had just moved here."

"How much money do you think he had?" Barbara asked as she re-joined the conversation.

"Lots of yellow and green, I dunno, a grand maybe. I thought it was a lot for a kid to carry around but he disappeared pretty quick."

"Yellow and green?"

"Fifties and hundreds. Banknotes," the man said in amazement at her lack of comprehension.

Cam pulled out his wallet and showed Barbara a colourful array of currency. Barbara felt one. "They're plastic!"

"Great for surfing," the shopkeeper said enthusiastically, "put that and ya licence in yer boardies and you're good to go."

Barbara ignored the broad grin on Cam's face. "Thanks, which direction did the boy go after he left here?"

"Over there to the hairdressers. I saw him come out about 10 mins later."

The officers asked a few more questions then returned to the open mall. "Fits had a hit on his card from the ATM in the centre here. Took out a thousand dollars which I think must be the maximum?"

"Yeah, you can generally only take a grand a day. I wonder why he needs so much although I guess it saves him being spotted later or he might think we would stop the card. If half of this is deliberate he's smart."

Roo was beginning to remind Barbara of a mini-Tommy. That might be the best way to get one step ahead. "Let's find out what he had done at the hairdressers."

A few minutes later she phoned Tommy but it went through to voicemail. It puzzled her and made her worry but she knew he would ring back. If he did not she would go out there herself. She and Cam walked out into the mall to continue their search.

Tommy had heard his phone but was too busy running to answer it. He and Kosti had arrived to a kerfuffle in the street. The woman in the house that had been Roo's grandmothers had been shouting at her neighbour in a language that Tommy did not understand but that sounded very graphic. Her neighbour was gesticulating wildly and pointing up the road. "Boy, boy in red! I no push your pot you hairy bitch of brain-dead whore!"

Tommy looked up and saw Roo staring at him. The boy turned and fled towards a busy crossroads with Tommy chasing. With the boy's lead and in dress shoes a huffing Tommy reached the intersection too late to determine which way the boy had gone. He scouted around but could find no sign of him and reluctantly returned to where Kosti was still trying to keep the two women physically apart.

"I lost him."

"Bugger. Well I'm not getting much sense out of these two."

"What happened?" Tommy asked the resident of the house. The woman was in her late fifties and dressed in black including a black scarf that was draped over her head. She reminded Tommy of European widows.

"Look see, big pot, pulled, smashered all over my runway! She's always causing me trouble. Man-eating son of the Devil's goat!"

"And you say that boy did it?" he asked the other woman who was slightly younger and dressed in a tight fitting animal print dress. She had black stocking hiding thick legs and thin stiletto heels that defied gravity. The woman was moving her shoulder in a manner he presumed she thought was seductive but to him looked ridiculous. When he ran his hand through his hair to remove it from his eye she licked her lips and pouted at him. He suppressed his shock but wished Barbara had been there to save him. She was always good at giving woman like that a look that made them behave.

"Yes, I saw him run away as I emptied my letterbox." Her English had improved dramatically. All part of the seduction routine he imagined.

Tommy turned to the woman. "I think your neighbour might be right ma'am, I think the boy knocked over your pot. Can we look?"

The woman waddled down her driveway. Underneath the window a large urn had been pulled over. Soil and a straggly old plant had fanned out across the concrete. A hammer lay near a large fragment of pot and Tommy could tell someone had smashed the pot looking for something. In the remaining base there was an imprint of a square shape which Tommy thought was probably some type of box.

"This pot; is it yours or was it here when you moved in?"

"Always here. Itsa too big to move."

Tommy turned to Kosti. "Straighten this up please. I have to ring Barbara."

Barbara answered her phone on the first ring. "Sir?"

"It's Tommy remember."

Barbara ignored his objections. "Any news," she said trying to sound casual.

"I saw Rufus," Tommy said noting the sharp inhalation on the end of the line. "Little monkey is fast though. He ran away from me so he obviously doesn't want to be caught yet. He was wearing a red shirt of some kind and looked like he might have cut his hair."

"Both," she answered vaguely then told him what they had discovered at the shopping centre.

Tommy then told Barbara about the warring neighbours and how he had left a flustered Kosti to manage them. She enjoyed the story knowing that Tommy had no personal interest in the policewoman. He was too much of a gentleman to have left someone he respected to manage that situation. She smiled broadly and shook her head when Cam shrugged his shoulders to ask what was happening.

"Well he couldn't have walked here so he must have caught a bus or the train. I'll ring Fits and get him to check. Unless you think you'll learn more there why don't you head up to lunch and see what the others have found. We'll ask around here but I don't think we'll learn much. See you soon."

"Okay, see ya."

"That sounds very Aussie," he replied but she had already hung up.

She rang Fits and waited while he checked. "No, he didn't use the Opal card on any of the trains or buses. Maybe he hitched?" he suggested.

"No, I don't think he'd trust anyone. Ta. We'll head up to the fish place."

Barbara relayed everything to Cam who returned from a small shop with a bottle of water for each of them. They sat on the curved concrete seats in the dappled shade of one of the trees to drink them. "Thanks I was thirsty. It is damned hot here."

"Welcome. What if he bought another Opal card? He ran from Tommy so maybe this is one leg he didn't want you to find out about."

"Oh Cam, can I take you back to England? That's it. Where can you buy them? The station?"

"No, you can buy them at select convenience stores too. There's one near the surf shop and then the bus stop is just behind that in the other street. Come on!"

Half an hour later they had confirmed their suspicions. She rang Tommy and said grimly, "Roo is going after his father."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: ** I am slightly ahead of my writing schedule so this is breakfast reading for a sleepy-headed LHF!

* * *

By the time Cam and Barbara arrived at the harbour the other officers had already gathered around a table under a picnic shelter nestled amongst tall Norfolk pine trees. Someone had bought four large helpings of seafood and chips and the sea gulls were gathering nearby, squawking their demands for a share of the bounty. Offered a choice of Dory or Barramundi or Whiting Barbara simply replied, "the one in batter." This brought laughter from everyone, even Tommy who was leaning casually against the timber upright of the shelter watching the sea.

Davo had issued a strict decree, no work talk over the meal. Most of the talk was about the local football which Barbara soon understood was not soccer but rugby league. Whitey tried to explain the various codes to them but although she feigned interest she was more concerned by the growing cloud on Tommy's face. "Oh look Tommy a pelican is landing. Let's have a look."

He was more than happy to have an excuse to be alone with her. They stood looking out at the harbour with its odd arrangements of two lighthouses, one on the headland to the right and one at the harbour entrance. Joggers ran past on a timber boardwalk that also accommodated groups of women with strollers walking and chatting in the sunshine. Pine trees shades the path which wound up the hill towards blocks of expensive apartments. Yachts, anchored in neat lines, bobbed gently in time with the waves. The tinkling echo of the rigging banging against the tops of the aluminium masts blended with the slosh of the lapping water on the sand to create a peaceful atmosphere broken only by the odd complaining gull and cars accelerating away from traffic lights behind them. The coal ships seemed to be only a few hundred metres from shore but the scale was deceptive. The rising escarpment to the left behind the city made everything feel closer and more intimate. Long ribbons of golden sand stretched north until they blended into the mountain.

"Oooh here comes another one," Barbara said excitedly as a large bird extended its wings to break its speed. It ploughed into the water feet first creating a wash that rippled behind it as it continued to glide to a stop.

Tommy admired the grace of the pelican. It was snowy white with jet black wings. He had seen other pelicans but they had been much smaller and more of a mottled, dirty grey. He surveyed the harbour and counted eighteen birds all with their heads held high, proudly parading around the boats. In the distant corner of the harbour more gathered around fishing boats hoping for a treat. He spotted another one perched on the bow of a small blue dinghy just in front of them then two more on bollards. Another pelican shuffled laboriously up the beach. "It's quite beautiful here," he said absently.

"Yeah, but damned hot. It's not to bad in the shade of these pine trees."

"Norfolk Pines," Tommy answered automatically, "they are unusual because their leaves grow up, not down."

He sounded detached. "What's wrong Sir?"

"I'm worried about Rufus. I had him in sight but he didn't want me to catch him. What makes you think he is going after his father?"

"If he was scared he would have come to you. He trusts me enough to let me know he was okay and he knows I trust you. If he felt unsafe he would have come to you."

"So he doesn't want to be caught yet."

"No, because he has a plan and it can't be about finding somewhere safe. I don't think he'd take on a gang. This feels much more personal so it has to be about his father, especially if he blames him for his mother's death."

Tommy frowned and ran his hand through his hair. "He's still only nine Barbara. He's out of his depth."

"What would you do?"

"Hand myself in."

"No, seriously if it were you and you weren't nine what would you do? He thinks a lot like you do. We might be able to get ahead of him."

"He stole something from that plant that had been there for years. You were right about his mother or someone having given him a plan. I think you're instincts here are better than mine."

"Only because over the years I've learned exactly how you think." She turned and started to walk back to the others.

Tommy stared at her guiltily and wondered if she knew what he was thinking right now and how hard it was for him to fight his urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her. He thanked his upbringing and the fact that all the Aussie police were staring at them with knowing grins. He sighed and followed her.

As Tommy expected Bazza was the first to speak. "So what were you two off discussin' over there all by yerselves?"

"Pelicans mainly," Barbara replied completely unfazed by his implication, "and this heat. I thought this was supposed to be autumn!" Everyone laughed, even Tommy, who earned a stern look for not supporting her.

"Right," Davo said clearly changing the tone of the gathering and pulling his iPad from the inside pocket of his coat. "I'll dial Fits and Marty in then let's hear what each team found this morning."

Tommy let Kosti outline their encounter with the locals and the narrow escape of Roo then Cam updated the team on what happened at the shopping centre. Davo turned to Bazza, "any leads on the father?"

Bazza became serious and detailed the discussions with workmates and supervisors at the steelworks. "It seems everyone there thinks he's a bonza bloke. One or two remember 'is wife and said she left 'im because she 'ad an affair with some English bloke. Apparently Woods was devastated. Only one of 'is mates seemed to know he had a gamblin' 'abit. He got in deep with loan shark to pay off the gang he owed then sold his 'ouse to pay off the shark. This was about two years ago and this bloke, Dunc MacKendrick, said Woods 'adn't gambled since. Puts a query over what we thought unless it's designed to throw us off."

"Instinct?" Davo asked.

"Gut feel, he was tellin' the truth, at least as he knew it."

"Then how does the child porn ring tie in?" Gibbo asked, "we found these pictures today online." He put his iPad on the table and started to scroll through photos of Roo dressed only in his underpants in various awkward poses.

"Oh my God!" Barbara exclaimed and Gibbo stopped scrolling.

Tommy was standing behind her and put his hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there just as Cam, who was on the other side of her, put his hand on her other shoulder. Tommy glared at him and Cam quickly removed his hand but a huge grin split his face angering Tommy more. He tried to refocus on the photos.

"They come from a batch we know were uploaded from the paedophile ring here in the Gong. Vice is close to catching them but if we find Roo his evidence might be what they need to put them away."

"That's quite a burden and potentially dangerous for a nine-year-old," Tommy said with clear concern.

"Do they…get more explicit?" Barbara asked.

"No," Davo assured her, "but there are four other boys in similar photos. I know it could be dangerous but he's out there alone and the gang know it too. Don't forget they tried to kill him. No one here believes that boy in Newtown was an accident do they?" The officers all muttered and shook their heads.

"Roo didn't want us to get him but he wanted us to know he's safe. Barbara and I think he has some sort of plan he's following. He might even be trying to locate his father. He knows now that we know that too so he might go further underground," Tommy said, "the question is how do we respond?"

"Boss," Marty cut in, "we just had a hit on that travel card. It was used on the 1pm train from Unanderra heading to Kiama."

Davo looked at his watch. "How long does it take to get there?"

They could hear computer keys clicking furiously. "Thirty-five minutes," Fits replied, "you'll never get there in time."

"Damn it!" Davo was red-faced and clearly annoyed. "This kid's as slippery as an eel."

"He told the guy at the surf shop that he was going to Kiama but we thought it was a bluff," Cam told his boss.

"It was," Tommy said confidently, "you'll get a message in a moment that he checked out at another station somewhere. He's swapped cards and he's on a northbound train heading back to Sydney."

"How can yer know that?" Bazza snarled.

"Tommy's right I can feel it. He wants us to think he's somewhere else or he wants us to know exactly where he is, I'm not sure which, but he won't be in Kiama." Barbara looked across at her boss and smiled.

"Right. Well it's nearly two o'clock. I think we should head back to Sydney. We've learned a lot today but there's not much we can do here until the kid makes his presence felt again. You two must be jetlagged so the guys'll drop you at your hotel. The rest of us will go back to the shop and start putting this together."

"I'd like to see where the shooting happened," Tommy said, "something might give us a clue."

"Yeah, good idea," Davo agreed, "actually we should all go. Fits, I'll see you when I get back."

Barbara was tired even though she had slept much better than she had hoped on the plane. Cam chatted pleasantly but she had started to drift off. "It's fine Barbara," he said as she jerked her had up, "get some shut eye."

Tommy had not been able to sleep but pretended. He told Kosti he was exhausted and promptly closed his eyes and adjusted the seat to be behind her line of vision. Without distraction he could think. He ran over the details again and remembered to ask about Toderovski's background. Then his thoughts drifted to Barbara. A thousand different thoughts seem to rumble through his mind but the main one was that he needed to tell her how he felt before she became too enamoured of Cam. He was sharing an apartment with her in a picturesque city and away from London with its structures and strictures it would make sense to declare his feelings. He imagined making love to her with the lights of the city in the background but he also understood he might need to move slowly, at her pace. He decided to at least try to hint around his feelings tonight.

With traffic it was almost two hours before all the police arrived at the scene of the shooting. An ominous dark stain was still on the bitumen where Toderovski had tried to run but fell and died. They walked up and down looking for clues. "What links do we have for Toderovski and the porn ring?" he asked.

"Not much yet," Gibbo replied, "our boys are investigating and Fits was running a background check on him. We might know more tomorrow."

Barbara and Cam came up to Tommy. "Spot anything Tommy?" Cam asked him.

"No, I don't know what I hoped to find but it was worth a look."

Davo rang Fits but with no further information and it approaching five o'clock he dismissed the team telling them to reconvene in the office at eight the next morning. "Cam, can you take Tommy and Barbara back to their hotel please. There's no point in two cars trying to navigate the traffic at this time."

"Sure Boss."

"I don't mind," Kosti said, "I thought you might like some dinner Tommy."

Tommy yawned ostentatiously. "Not tonight thanks. I'm very tired and I'd be miserable company. Perhaps Barbara and I can join you another night." He emphasised Barbara's name to leave no doubt in the mind of either woman that he had no intention of being alone in a social situation with Alessa.

Barbara picked up the hint and was amused that Tommy was being so blatant. Normally he would smoothly avoid the situation. She smiled sweetly at Kosti. "Not tomorrow though, Tommy and I have been invited to dinner by Cam and his partner."

Tommy looked up at the mention of a partner. His eyes met Cam's and he noticed the smirk. Cam obviously knew how he felt about Barbara, he only hoped he had not mentioned it to her and frightened her off. "Excellent, well we'll be off. See you tomorrow Kosti and thanks for playing chauffeur today."

Barbara automatically climbed into the backseat of the car to allow Tommy room to sit comfortably. She also wanted to observe the interactions with Cam now that he realised he was not a threat. She had enjoyed seeing him jealous. It had confirmed that he did have an interest in her that extended beyond her being his sergeant.

"Do you still want to go you-know-where tonight Barbara?" Cam asked trying hard to find a discreet way to discuss the suits.

Tommy bristled but tried to sound aloof. "Don't let me stop any plans."

"I don't suppose Davie would be ready now?" she asked, "that way we could get that out of the way then be home early. I am actually very tired now."

"Sure if you don't mind Tommy."

Uncertain what he was agreeing to he muttered a simple, "no, that's fine."

Davie's shop was in a trendy part of Paddington, set amongst a row of terrace houses that had been renovated immaculately. Tommy was at first confused but once inside the shop he understood. His sergeant was actually going to conform and upgrade her image but retain her spirit of frugality. It made him smile and when she looked at him he nodded to let her know he approved. Davie was dressed outlandishly in a floral body shirt and navy flares and spoke with a high pitched and over-exuberant tone making Tommy doubt his taste but he soon realised the man had an image to portray for his clientele and that beneath it lurked a shrewd businessman. He left the shop in the care of his shop assistant with a few well-directed instructions about what situations, clients or sellers needed his direct intervention. "Come through to the back," he said dropping the campy act, "I've put some pieces aside."

Barbara was suddenly mortified to realise Tommy had come in to the shop. She had assumed he would be understanding and go for a walk for twenty minutes but now he was standing in front of her waiting, like the other two men for her to decide between the dark grey and the black suits. She decided on the grey and went into the dressing room. Davie had selected three blouses for her to try. She was drawn to the silky bottle green one which she thought went well with the suit.

Tommy's jaw dropped when he saw her. The blouse highlighted her eyes and the cut of the suit accentuated curves he had never noticed but would now find hard to forget. "Oh yes," the three men said together then started to laugh.

"I'll just change back and we can go then," she said thinking the ordeal was over.

"You'll need the black one too," Tommy said.

Barbara sighed and re-emerged a few minutes later wearing the black with a smoky grey shirt. "Try the red blouse on too," Cam suggested.

Fifteen minutes later Barbara was preparing to pay for two suits, four blouses and a pair of very comfortable low heeled leather shoes. "Oh hang on I left my bag in the dressing room."

Tommy glanced at the register, quickly converted to pounds and knew Barbara would have a fit. He opened his wallet and pulled out three one hundred dollar notes and slipped them to Davie who nodded.

"So how much?" Barbara asked when she returned.

"Three hundred and ten dollars normally," Davie said but I'll give you a discount for being a friend of Cam and Sammy, so two hundred and sixty. That's about a hundred and forty pounds."

Barbara bit her lip. It was money she did not have at the moment but she also understood the clothes were worth a lot more. She had liked how she felt wearing them and she had seen Tommy's face light up when she had put on the first suit. She handed over her Visa card and was glad Tommy had not offended her in front of the others by offering to pay.

As they drove back Barbara mentioned how tired she was and how sore her feet were after a day in heels. "Try chasing a young boy when you're on the wrong side of forty and wearing dress shoes," Tommy replied, "my calves ache."

"You two need a hot bath and a good night in bed," Cam said wickedly and grinned at Tommy who hoped Barbara could not see how red his face had turned. Tommy frowned at him but was beginning to see why Barbara liked him.

Cam dropped them at the hotel with a promise to collect them at seven forty sharp. Tommy carried the bags up to their apartment and straight through to her bedroom. The curtains were still drawn but he knew what the view would be so he pulled them open. One pane of floor to ceiling glass framed the harbour to perfection. "It is a beautiful view," Barbara said from behind him.

"Yes it is. Did you know that you can see it from your bathroom too?"

"No, I was in there this morning there's no window."

Tommy walked into her bathroom and was impressed that it lived up to the pictures. He looked for the switch on the wall and flicked it. The unusual mirror that Barbara had experimented with changed into a window. "You can sit in your bath and watch the ferries come in."

Barbara turned and walked out of the room and across the living area to Tommy's bedroom. He trailed behind her silently wondering what he had said to annoy her and avoiding saying anything that might offend further. She went into his bedroom and came back out. "You have no bath and no view."

"No, I wanted you to have it."

"Thank you," she said with a huge smile that caught Tommy off guard. Her eyes were soft and affectionate. She had none of the anger or affront he had expected. "but I can't have a bath knowing you don't have one to soak in. Why don't you have one first?"

Tommy did not take his eyes from hers. "Why don't we have one together?" he asked softly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note:** This chapter contains no case elements but quite a lot of gratuitous romance!

* * *

Barbara stared at him, barely believing her ears. He had made his offer sound almost innocent. She waited for him to kiss her. She wanted him to kiss her. She willed him to kiss her. Tommy did not move. His eyes remained fixed on hers but he made no attempt to move closer.

As soon as he made the suggestion he regretted it. What would Barbara think of such a forward proposition? He knew as he looked in her eyes she desired him as much as he wanted her but if they bathed together it could only lead to one place and he did not want her to think his feelings were only lustful. He needed to woo her and let her see he loved her.

After a minute he finally looked away. "I mean we both have sore legs. We could both sit on the edge and dangle them in the bath while we talk about the case."

"We could," she replied curtly, "but I'm hungry. I think I'll go out for something to eat. You can come if you want to or you can dangle your aching legs in the bath!" She turned and walked out leaving Tommy cursing under his breath.

He changed quickly into jeans and a casual shirt and met her in the living area. They said very little as they left the hotel and headed towards the Quay. They turned the corner into George Street and saw people thronging towards the harbour. "Oh Vivid," he said, "I forgot."

"Might be fun," she replied, determined to ignore what had just happened. She was confused by his mixed signals and embarrassed that she had probably let him see in her eyes how much she loved him. It had frightened him. She could not blame him, he had probably just thought of her as a distraction, a dalliance while they were away from London. She might have been prepared to accept that. It was not as if she planned to marry him and run away to Cornwall but the tension between them needed resolution, or at least she had thought so. Well he could forget all about his fancy hotel rooms and petty jealousies; he had had his chance and ignored it so that door was now firmly closed.

They followed the crowd towards the Harbour Bridge. A sign proclaimed the area as The Rocks. "They even do that "the" thing with their suburb names," she said with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

Tommy read the sign. "Seems it was established during the First Settlement from 1788. Many of the buildings come from sandstone that was quarried locally on the hill behind us which is what gives it its name. Makes sense. It was once an area of wharves and slums frequented by 'sailors, prostitutes and rats'. Oh it says here this was the site of a plague outbreak in 1900 and that led to the demolition of many buildings. More followed when they started construction on the Bridge after the First World War. It was one of the areas protected by union Green Bans in the 1970s and that led to the development of the area as a tourist attraction."

"Fascinating, does it say where to eat?"

"Don't be like that please Barbara."

"Like what?" she snapped.

"Dismissive. I like history and I like to understand more about the places I visit. I didn't mean to bore you. I was hoping you might share my interest."

"Why?" she asked, genuinely confused as to why it would matter to him. She understood he was more intelligent and far better educated than her but he did not have to continually rub her nose in it.

"Because I enjoy talking about ideas with you. We do it at work with cases but I'm interested in your opinion on a range of matters and part of the joy of travel is discovering new things together and discussing them. Helen was never interested either so if you don't want to that's fine. I'll keep quiet."

Barbara looked at him and frowned. _Why am I being compared to Helen? _"Sorry, I'm just tired and I thought you were…doesn't matter. What sort of plague? Bubonic like the Black Death of the Middle Ages?"

"Yes, so it seems." As they walked down the street passed convict built cottages and bigger warehouses that were now full of vibrant little stores, Tommy continued to talk about fleas, the plague and its effect on Europe and how modern outbreaks that are treated with antibiotics. Barbara made a conscious effort to listen and be involved as their conversation drifted onto the architecture and finally the light displays that were beamed onto the sandy facades of the buildings. The crowd was growing steadily but they fought their way into a pub crammed with people all trying to order a beer or a chardy.

"What's a chardy?" she asked him.

"Chardonnay I think. Nothing here is ever called by its real name."

"See, that's what I mean. They're odd."

"Yes, they're a weird mob*," he said chuckling at his own joke. He saw her puzzled expression. "I'll explain later."

When Tommy asked for a menu they were escorted out the back by a dark-haired woman dressed as a nineteenth century serving wench complete with mop cap. Her bodice was laced so tight Barbara wondered how she breathed but the effect of pushing her assets up and almost out of her white muslin blouse reminded her of a show she had seen on the BBC about the underclass of Dickens' London. As they walked Barbara saw that the narrow, crowded front bar area hid a gem. Through a narrow door they entered a large beer garden with rows of trestle tables flowing down across five terrace areas. There was a large open barbeque area on the middle terrace where patrons cooked their own steaks.

The buxom wench escorted them to a spot on the end of one of the trestles on the terrace above the barbeque. The heat from the fire drifted up making dining outside cosy. The wench dumped a sloshing jug of beer and two pint jugs before them. "Sorry but with Vivid on everythin's packed. It's fixed price up front for a jug, two steaks and salad from the salad bar. If I were you I'd send one for the salad while one of yers waits here and then do the same for the steaks."

Tommy paid her and suggested Barbara fetch the salads. When she returned he smiled at her. "You know I don't know how you like your steak cooked."

"We rarely go places that actually ask," she replied laughing. All the tension from earlier had gone and she was relaxed and enjoying herself. "Medium."

Tommy jostled amongst the other patrons to find two juicy steaks and a spot to cook them. From where he stood he could watch her. A few times he caught her watching him. He regretted not kissing her in the bathroom. He had certainly wanted to and he had seen Barbara would not reject him but he wanted to make love to Barbara properly; slowly and in a manner that honoured her and how he felt about her. The tension in the bathroom had been too great. He knew that it would have resulted in a passionate, hasty and lustful encounter. It was not right to give in to temptation like that and have sex on the bathroom floor, no matter how much both of them might have wanted to do exactly that. The thought stirred his desires and it was only when he noticed his steak burning that he recovered.

He gave Barbara the best looking steak. "Sorry it might be a bit overdone. It was hard to judge the heat."

"Perfect," she said as she cut it. He was relieved to see the steaks were succulent inside a slightly blackened crust.

As they ate a bush band struck up and everyone started to sing heart renditions of Bound for Botany Bay and even Danny Boy. Barbara had a beautiful voice and he sat transfixed as she joined in the choruses ignoring her elbow in his ribs to make him sing. "This is like an Irish sing-a-long at a German beer festival," he said leaning close to her ear when the band moved further away.

"I've never been to either so can't say," she replied, "you can take me one day."

Tommy grinned into her ear. "I will."

Back out on the street they pushed their way through the crowds gathered around the market stalls that sold old photographs of Sydney, a myriad of styles of artwork and timber craft and a range of unique knick-knacks. Tommy took Barbara's hand in an area where jostling bodies were threading through an intersection, some trying to head to the water and others into the city. When the swarm of people thinned he kept hold of her hand and was pleased when she made no attempt to wriggle free of his grip.

They negotiated their way to the water and stood at Campbell Cove looking up at the Bridge. All the arches and lines were lit in a kaleidoscope of swirling colour. Images of famous Australian paintings, some of which Tommy recognised, were projected onto the pylons in an ever-changing show interspersed with bold abstract patterns that were rather hypnotic. Behind them the three levels of the solid old warehouse was illuminated with photos of old sailors and three masted riggers that once carried goods a record speeds between the East End docks and here. "It's a smaller world than you think."

They slowly wandered around towards the city, caught in a shuffling column of camera-wielding visitors. Opposite the Opera House a space opened up and Tommy skilfully and politely pushed to the front. The white, tiled sails of the Opera House shone in the spotlights.

"You'd think they'd light that up," Barbara said, bewildered that such a canvas would be ignored.

"They do, just wait."

They both looked out across the water. Ferries moved past swiftly carrying more visitors into the city while tourist boats and pleasure craft bobbled in their wakes waiting for the light show to start. As the crowd pressed in tighter Tommy dropped her hand and stood protectively behind her. He snuggled in close and leant his arms on the railing in front of her. It had the same effect as if he had wrapped his arms around her but if she questioned it he could say he was just keeping her safe.

Taking his hand in the crowd had been sensible. It would have been awkward to be separated. What she had not expected was how comforting and calming it was to be physically connected to him. It seemed almost natural, just as it did when he stood behind her. They were not quite touching except where their arms brushed each other on the railing but she could feel the warmth of his body through her shirt. Despite her promise to herself earlier that she was not going to succumb to his mixed signals she shifted her weight so that her back made contact with him. She heard his sharp intake of breath.

When Barbara nestled into him Tommy leant forward and wrapped his arms firmly around her and lent his chin lightly on her head. The loudspeaker crackled and then noise and light erupted around them. The white sails were filled with a dazzling swirl of colourful images and the buildings lining the quay came alive to the music. The edges of the skyscrapers turned green and then blue then red then aqua before merging onto a rainbow of movement. The pounding beat of the music was perfectly timed with the lights and the effect was surreal and almost hypnotic. When the show finished ten minutes later the crowd applauded raucously but Tommy had lost focus on the show. For the last few minutes he had been kissing Barbara's neck and nibbling playfully on her ear.

At first Barbara did not notice Tommy move his head. When he nuzzled his face into her neck she had been too shocked to react. She stayed perfectly still watching the colour dancing before her. When his teeth nipped at her earlobe she had groaned involuntarily. From the wave of pure joy that washed through her it seemed her ears were directly connected to areas deep within her. She turned her head towards him and expected him to finally kiss her. The music and the lights stopped. They were looking intently at each other, neither quite wanting to break the spell. Someone pushed into them as they rushed past and the moment was lost.

They sauntered back to the hotel swept along at the lumbering pace of the crowd. At first Tommy had his arm around her shoulder but closer to the city, as people dived across their path darting for trains and buses, they had reverted to holding hands. Tommy had so much to say but for once was lost how to start. Besides, telling someone you had been friends and partners with for years that you were now in love with them was not a conversation for a noisy footpath.

Barbara was scared. She knew without doubt that Tommy's intentions were physical. She still had no idea if they were temporary or more serious but in a few minutes she would have to decide if she was prepared to risk everything on either prospect. Kissing was one thing but consequences would follow. She was still undecided when they stepped out of the lift and Tommy opened their apartment door.

"I enjoyed tonight," she said dropping his hand and breaking the awkward silence.

"So did I," Tommy answered. He walked to the window and looked out over the Bridge and Quay where they had been.

Barbara moved up next to him. "My feet are still sore though, what about you?"

Tommy was not sure how to answer. "Mmmm," he said non-committally.

Barbara decided. "Is your offer still open?"

He looked across at her and smiled. "Yes."

"Go and get changed then."

He stood in his room pondering whether to wear his underwear which was more form hugging or his sleep shorts which were more forgiving if his thoughts strayed but which might reveal more than planned if they got wet. He settled for his underwear. He grabbed the robe from his bathroom and wrapped it around him protectively.

As she changed into a tee-shirt and fresh underwear Barbara wondered what was in Tommy's mind. He constantly gave off signals that he wanted to deepen their friendship but stopped short of doing so. Watching the lightshow had crossed some sort of line but if he kept vacillating she would simply kiss him and see how he reacted.

Tommy knocked on her door. "Come in."

They were both wrapped in their robes. Tommy put his hand gently on her back as they entered the bathroom. He adjusted the light to a very low glow that was just enough to move around safely but allowed the lights of the city to dominate. Barbara turned around to face him as he undid his robe. She had expected him to have a tee-shirt on and when she saw his naked chest she momentarily stopped breathing fearing he might be completely nude. As the black shape of his shorts appeared she began to breathe again and undid her gown. Tommy hung the robes on the hooks then sat on the edge of the bath and allowed his feet to slip into the steamy water. He held up his hand and Barbara took it as she lowered herself next to him.

Tommy held her hand firmly but not uncomfortably, making no attempt to let it go. "Oh that feels good."

Barbara presumed he meant the water but so much of the last few hours had been different to her perceptions. The city, lit by streetlights and the patterns of Vivid, created a soft, ethereal light in the room. "The city looks amazing."

"Yes, almost as good as you did in that green blouse."

She looked at him in surprise. "I thought you were just being polite."

He let go of her hand and turned to her. "No, I meant it." He brought his hand up and placed it gently on her cheek. She shivered under his fingers as he stroked her face gently. "You're beautiful Barbara and when you dress like that the world can see it too."

She waited, thinking that surely this time he must kiss her. He was still watching her but made no move towards her. Enough was enough! If he wouldn't kiss her she was going to kiss him! She moved her weight to her right to reach him. "Whoa!"

Splash!

At first Tommy thought she had jumped into the deep bath to avoid him but then he realised she had slipped off the edge. She stood up and wiped the water from her face and hair. Her wet tee-shirt clung to her enticingly and he tried to look away. Tonight was not about his physical desires. He had been about to tell her he loved her. Somehow he thought that was the right thing to do before you change forever a friendship that had endured through the stresses of the last decade. Now watching her spluttering about in the water he ignored the niceties and slid in after her sending a wave of water across the marble floor. They both started to laugh and splash each other. Tommy moved closer slowly and she edged back against the edge of the bath.

When his hands closed over her waist Barbara knew something was going to happen but instead of kissing her he lifted her up and sat her on the ledge. "I think you were about there."

Barbara placed her hands on his shoulders, partly to touch him but mostly to stop him hopping out and sitting next to her. This time he inched his face closer at a speed that was for her agonisingly slow. Her hand knotted behind his head. _This had better be worth it after this build up!_

"I love you Barbara," he said tenderly before this time he finally kissed her.

* * *

"They're a Weird Mob" by Nino Culotta (John O'Grady) is a classic Australian comic novel about an Italian who is sent to Australia after WW2 to write articles about the Australian way of life to help Italian immigrants and is totally bewildered by the local idioms.


	11. Chapter 11

Their kiss started hesitantly as each of them tried to second guess the right mix of pressure and eagerness and when it might be appropriate to let their lips interlink. It felt self-conscious and clumsy and not at all how Tommy had imagined it. He had thought everything would be instantly perfect as if their love was meant to be. "Sorry," he breathed defeated as he still held her close.

Barbara sensed Tommy's nerves. She remembered watching him kiss Helen for the first time. It too had been unnatural and awkward but she had seen then what he had not - Helen did not return the intensity of his love. Barbara did though, surely he could feel that. "What are you scared of Tommy? That I love you too much or that I won't love you enough?"

He moved back and frowned at her. She was his anchor in a world that often spun around him too fast. She understood him; all his insecurities and fears. She knew what this meant to him and she was looking at him with the same certainty she did when she knew she had found the answer to one of their cases. "That I'll let you down," he replied mournfully.

"Only if you give up. I'm nervous too. I'm petrified about what this might mean but I love you Tommy, more than you seem to understand, and that...well it makes it worth the risk."

This time he kissed her as he had wanted to kiss her; fiercely, deeply but lovingly. Barbara had responded instantly and passionately. The kiss intensified so quickly that they both started to go dizzy. Years of emotional intimacy became physical. No one had ever kissed Tommy with so much raw sensuality but it was a kiss clearly built on affection and respect. He could feel her making love to him with every movement of her lips and every exploration of her tongue. If heaven was a kiss then he had found it.

Tommy sensed a point where continuing would lead them into her bedroom and set them on a path that was irrevocable. He wanted to be with her forever but he doubted she would believe that yet and he was determined not to sleep with her until she did. He wanted to prove he was worthy of her faith and trust. Besides he had not planned any of this and was not prepared. He could rectify that tomorrow but for tonight he was determined to stop here. He kissed her again lovingly then hopped up on the bath edge beside her putting his arm around her shoulder and leaning his head against hers.

Barbara intuitively understood why Tommy stopped. The next step would be one from which they could never retreat. It had felt natural holding his hand but kissing him this way was sublime. She had only ever kissed two men before and had no idea what to expect from him but she knew what she wanted. After their tentative start they had found a rhythm that was intimate, exciting and yet soothing. Her whole body was on fire and every caress of his fingers on her back spoke of a promise that pulled at her core. She wondered if the same would happen when they made love. She had thought she would be nervous but after their first real kiss she had no doubts, no 'what-ifs' but she would respect his choices and let him set the pace. As he pulled her into his shoulder she glanced down and smiled with satisfaction when she saw that the kiss had affected him exactly the way it had tempted her. She doubted she would have to wait long.

They sat silently soaking their legs until Barbara started to feel numb. "I'm getting cold," she told him.

"Time for me to say goodnight then." He helped her back to her feet then offered her a robe.

She shook her head. "I don't want it to get wet. This was my only tee-shirt. Now what am I going to wear to bed?"

"You can have mine. I don't need one."

When he returned from his room she was standing beside her bed looking out the window at the lights. "Here you go. Goodnight Barbara." He kissed her softly then turned to leave.

Barbara put her hand on his arm. "No Tommy...stay."

The next morning they woke with the sun streaming through the window. Barbara looked at the time and swore. "Cam'll be downstairs in half an hour."

Tommy rolled her over and kissed her affectionately. "We've got time."

"Not if you do that we won't," she said as she leapt out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Silhouetted against the sky the curves of her naked body Tommy's primal urge was to follow her into the shower. It was hard to resist and he groaned in frustration.

Suitably dressed they were in the lift at the time Cam was due. "See we had time," Tommy said smugly, "no regrets?"

"None. What about you?" His broad, cheeky grin answered her question.

Cam met them at his car. "Did you enjoy last night?"

"Very much. We went out to see Vivid then had a relaxing bath, talked for a while then went to bed," Tommy answered truthfully but omitted that they slept in one bed. Actually on one side of one bed, bodies entwined.

"I slept better than I have for years," she confessed.

"That's a pity," Cam said. He saw their faces flush and smiled to himself as he hopped into the driver's seat. He understood human nature. You could not leave two people who loved each other alone in an apartment with the type of views he imagined they had and not spark romance.

Whitey had brought coffees and a selection of toasted sandwiches. Barbara tucked in heartily to a bacon and egg roll while Tommy selected a ham and cheese croissant. They stood as close as they dared, neither wanting to be parted from the other. Barbara noticed Kosti staring at them so waved across the room and smiled as only victors can.

Davo re-capped what they knew. Roo was alive and avoiding the police but sending some type of message to Barbara. His father was still missing and Vice were managing the child pornography and gang elements. "Our best lead with all this is that boy. Anyone got any ideas how to find him?"

They went over the facts and timings again looking for a clue. Fits confirmed that the boy had used Toderovski's Opal card on a short bus trip in the city late in the evening. "So he's back in Sydney."

"Someone must be helping him; he's only nine for fu...goodness sake!" Davo exclaimed. "Whitey, Kosti check out all the youth hostels and shelters and talk to any contacts you have on the streets. Gibbo and Baz go up and see what Vice is up to and how we can speed it up. The rest of us will stay here and go through everything again. Barbara you're the key to this, how does the kid think?"

Just before noon a uniformed constable knocked on the door. "Excuse me Sir; a boy just dropped this downstairs for Sergeant Havers."

All eyes locked on the young man. "Tell me he's still there," Davo boomed.

"Yes Sir. It was odd so I told him to wait and asked someone to keep an eye on him."

"Good work son! Have him taken to Interview Room 2."

Tommy took the white, slightly crumpled envelope from the constable and handed it to Barbara. An unsophisticated hand had written 'Sgt Havers London Metropolitan Police' on it. "The outside will have too many prints but let's get someone up to dust the contents," he suggested to Davo who nodded. Cam left the room to organise it.

Barbara snapped the rubber gloves she had been given onto her wrists to remove excess air then slowly opened the envelope and pulled out a picture of a kangaroo torn from a magazine and two tickets. "Sydney Swans versus Geelong Cats? What on earth? These are tickets for Friday night."

Tommy examined them. "Australian Rules tickets. Whitey was telling me about the Swans at lunchtime yesterday. And look, Geelong Cats have been underlined on both tickets. Do you think they're from Roo?"

"I'd say so from the envelope."

"Why does he want us to go to a game of football? Maybe he'll meet us there?" he speculated.

"Why pay for tickets when he could just come here? How did he even know where we are?"

"He's the most resourceful kid I've ever heard of," Cam said in awe.

"C'mon let's go talk to boy genius then while these get dusted," Davo said.

Tommy pulled Barbara aside as they followed down the corridor. "You know it won't be Roo in there don't you?" he whispered.

"Of course. He wouldn't get caught. If he wanted to be found he'd walk right in and ask."

Tommy leant closer. "I do love you; last night was...the most incredible..."

"Is the word you're struggling for sex?" she asked mischievously.

"No! Well that WAS incredible. I was referring more to the spiritual side. It was as if we let our inner most selves free."

"Our souls danced together in the light so fast they became one."

Tommy looked at her and frowned. "Byron?"

Barbara laughed. "No Havers, I just made it up!"

"You might have missed your calling my love."

She was right though, they had truly merged and despite the case Tommy felt exuberant. When Barbara had first asked him to stay he had refused explaining his lofty ideals and his vision for how he wanted to make love to her and ensure she was honoured and protected. She had laughed at his pompousness and argued that staying together did not mean they had to have sex. Tommy had turned his back, as a gentleman would, while she changed into his tee-shirt and slid under the covers. His shorts were also wet so he slipped them off and climbed self-consciously in beside her. Lying carefully beneath the covers so that only their arms and faces touched they started to tell each other about their loneliness, fears and needs. When she had said their friendship was a life-raft in the turbulent ocean of their lives Tommy had known beyond doubt she would be his wife before the year was out. They held and comforted each other and kissed frequently as they talked about their past, their partnership, Helen and eventually their dreams for the future. It had been the profound, spiritual connection he had always longed to share. Even though their bodies had wandered closer together, none of it had seemed sexual until the moment that Barbara asked him to put her out of her misery and make love to her. His faltering protests vanished when she mentioned that the hotel toiletries, laid out discreetly on the bathroom shelf, anticipated such situations.

Davo was first into the interview room and came back out of the door and slammed his fist against the wall. "Theory confirmed," Barbara said quietly.

She and Tommy interviewed the boy along with Cam while Davo watched from behind the one-way mirror. The boy of about twelve was dressed in the grey trousers and shirt and navy blazer of an elite city school. His straw boater and tie were both slightly skewed and his black leather shoes had only seen a hasty coat of polish. He confessed to having been given fifty dollars by a boy matching Roo's description to drop off the envelope. The boy, named George, clearly knew nothing more and claimed never to have met Roo before he had been approached. Even when Cam threatened to call his principal and parents the lad could tell them nothing more.

The officers conferred outside the room and Tommy convinced them to let the boy go. He and Barbara would walk him back to his school and hope that if he knew more he might be grateful and tell them. Davo agreed but gave the boy a reprimand that Tommy had no doubt would stay with him for years.

As they walked along the street the boy was silent. "Why did you help Rufus?" Barbara asked.

"I'm on full scholarship but Mum's a widow and finds it hard to cope. I do odd jobs when I can to help. I had a free period and was just sitting reading under the tree. I thought I'd be back before anyone noticed and that it was easy money. I can't afford a record Sir; I want to be a barrister."

Tommy felt sorry for the lad. He could understand his motives. He pulled his wallet from his pocket. "You're not in trouble George unless your school finds you were missing. We just need to find the boy who spoke to you. Here's my card with my number and here's another fifty if you promise me you'll stay out of trouble and ring me if you spot Rufus again."

George seemed humbled but took the money gratefully. "Thank you Sir. He was kind and smart. I trusted him," he said as he fled into the school grounds and through an arched doorway in the old sandstone building.

"Softy," Barbara said smiling.

"I'm in a good mood after last night." They passed a small laneway and Tommy grabbed her elbow and guided her in. He pushed her gently against the wall and kissed her passionately. "I've wanted to do that all morning."

"We're on duty remember."

"Hmm, well I couldn't wait till we finish tonight. Roo's not going to be found today."

"We have dinner with Cam tonight remember?"

"Any chance we can get out of it?" he murmured as he tried to kiss her neck.

She pushed him away. "No," she said without malice, "we can't. Now back to work!"

The afternoon dragged slowly. Most of the team were working with Vice trying to identify the other boys in the photos from missing person records. Two of the photos had a park in the background and Cam was trolling through online streetscapes trying to isolate the location. Tommy and Barbara tried to develop a profile of Roo's family. He was following his mother's side while Barbara traced the father. They were slowly acquiring a list of names and locations that they could start to investigate but there was no blinding flash of inspiration.

At six o'clock the team started to drift away. "Do you want to come with me or will I drop you at your hotel first?"

"Hotel," Tommy replied.

"With you," Barbara had said a split second before.

Cam laughed, "well argue it out between you. I'm going to the gents."

"I need to buy a bottle of wine and... other things. We can catch a cab."

"We have to go, so no distractions please. It'd be rude." Barbara taunted him with a wicked smile.

An hour later they pulled up in front of a neat cream terrace house in Surry Hills. The front window was a single panel with 'Sammy! Hairstylist extraordinaire!' emblazoned in gold lettering. Behind was a small, tidy hair salon that in the low light looked to be decorated in buttercup and steel grey. As they climbed from the cab the door swung open and Cam greeted them warmly. A gangly Irish setter pushed past him and jumped up on Tommy, two red paws on his chest and a pink tongue searching for Tommy's face. "Get down Brutus! Sorry about that," Cam said as he grabbed the dog's collar. "G'day you two. Welcome to our mad house."

Barbara followed Cam into the house. Past the salon door a narrow set of steep steps rose to the left and straight ahead opened up into a large living area. "Love the house," Barbara enthused as she saw the large open plan area. The traditional L-shape had been retained but had been opened up to the small, brightly lit courtyard by floor to ceiling glass sliding doors which were open to let in the evening air.

A big, open, industrial style kitchen was immediately behind the salon wall, its centrepiece being a huge, antique farm-style table in a bleached wood. It was surrounded by eight metal chairs in different bright colours that had been distressed to allow rust and other colours to shine through. Beyond that stretching towards the courtyard two brown leather couches faced each other. They looked so low and soft that they would be impossible to ever stand up from without help.

"Sammy, our guests are here," Cam yelled up the stairs.

Barbara watched Tommy to see if he would react when he met Sammy but she was mildly disappointed that there was not even a flick of surprise in his eyes. On the phone Sammy had been fun and flamboyant. She had expected another version of Davie but instead Sammy was much like Cam, tall, immaculately groomed but casual and friendly. After introductions they moved to the couches. After Cam poured a glass of wine for everyone he and Sammy sat close together, physically interacting but not actually cuddling. Barbara was suddenly uncomfortable. She and Tommy had never been any form of couple before outside of work. They had never been alone with friends. They were workmates, anything else was foreign.

Tommy sat in the corner of the other couch and watched Barbara to see where she would sit. He hoped that she would sit beside him and was disappointed when she sat self-consciously in the other corner. Brutus leapt up between them and settled his head into Tommy's lap.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Cam and Sammy could see the dynamics playing out between their guests. Sammy tilted his head then frowned. "Come with me young lady, I can't have you as a guest in my home and not sort out that thing on your head!"

Barbara reached up to feel what was wrong with her head. Nothing felt abnormal. "What thing?"

"That straggly haircut that someone has given you. You look like they chewed through it with their dentures!"

Cam and Tommy laughed and earned a reproachful glare from Barbara who was very much regretting not following Tommy's suggestion to abandon the evening and spent it in bed. At least there he had not mocked her. In fact he had been more than appreciative of her attention.

"Come on; leave Cam and Inspector Gorgeous to talk cops. We'll be back in three shakes of a lamb's tail." He grabbed Barbara's hand and led her away.

"Sorry about that," Cam said, "he lacks social filters sometimes."

"So does Barbara."

"He has a PhD in psychology but he prefers to cut hair. Sometimes I think it's a waste but he enjoys it."

They chatted until Barbara and Sammy returned five minutes later, joking and laughing together. Tommy was impressed. Her style was much the same but Sammy had made it sharper and less shaggy. It looked as if it had been cut to look dishevelled and unruly rather than it being the by-product of a bad hair day. He stood, much to Brutus' disappointment, smiled broadly at her and extended his hand. Barbara blushed but accepted it and allowed him to pull her down next to him at the end of the couch she had been sitting. He kissed her quickly then put his arm around her and held her close. Brutus snorted derisively and wandered out into the courtyard much to the amusement of the humans.

Dinner was delicious. Sammy had prepared lamb skewers with an Asian salad for entree and for main Cam cooked sizzling chicken satay with jasmine rice. "This is really good," Barbara said helping herself to a second serving.

"Save some room for dessert, Cam has created a chocolate pavlova that will take three marathons to work off!"

After dinner they opened another bottle of wine and returned to the couches. This time Barbara snuggled into Tommy without thought. It was not something Helen had ever done. They used to sit formally when visiting friends but only now did he realise it had been unnatural. Barbara had her hand on his chest tracing circles unconsciously as she talked. It was maddeningly distracting and he wondered how long was polite to wait before calling a cab.

"So Cam said you were no closer to finding the boy," Sammy said.

"No, we have no idea where he would go but he must be getting help. Nine year old boys can't do what he's doing without support. I don't care how clever they are," Cam replied.

"Of course he has support!" Sammy said as if Cam were rather dull. "He'd have needed support all along. He's gifted; he has needs that no school could have satisfied. Who were his friends in England? Who was he corresponding with online? They are probably still there for him and he trusts them. Have they been any help?"

"That's it," Tommy said leaping up. "I knew there was something missing in Sheffield but couldn't see what...there was no computer, no laptop, no smartphone but he clearly knows how to use them. I thought his mother might have forbidden it so the father couldn't find them but what if he hid it from her?"

Tommy punched the screen on his phone. "Winston? Hi...Yes we're both fine thanks...listen I want you to go to Sheffield, take a computer boffin with you. Search the house for a laptop or tablet. I think it'll be in the heater ducting facing the stairs...check for a ledge or something...I think the password will be a derivation of kangaroo."

"Skippy, get them to try Skippy and his year of birth," Sammy suggested.

Tommy repeated that to Winston. "Then look for chats, emails, social media, anything that might give us a clue who he trusts...yes, thanks Winston."

"Thanks Sammy, you're brilliant!" Tommy said when he hung up.

"I know," he said with a straight face that made the others smile. "Now I'll call you two lovebirds a cab."


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note:** Thanks for your encouraging comments. I am glad you are enjoying the interplay between our friends and the case. I am having a little bit of fun with this story…he he.

* * *

Friday morning started more leisurely for Tommy and Barbara. After being up until four o'clock Skyping with Winston they had emailed Davo a quick report and informed him they would come to the office after lunch. Tommy woke around ten and allowed Barbara to snooze while he brewed fresh coffee. He sat on the edge of the desk looking out at the ferries darting around the harbour and the little ant-like people scurrying around the shore. Barbara came shuffling into the living room dressed only in his tee-shirt. Her hair stuck up at odd angles and she reminded him of a sleepy child. He half-expected to see her dragging a stuffed toy behind her.

"Sorry, I tried not to wake you," he smiled apologetically.

"You didn't. It's time we got up I guess. So much for a romantic evening," she said stretching in a way that raised the shirt over her naked hips.

Tommy stopped sipping his coffee and watched. She was oblivious to the affect she was having on him and that only added to his pleasure. "It was romantic," he retorted as he beckoned her closer. He began to nuzzle into her neck. "What could be more romantic than falling asleep in your arms?"

"Mmm, shagging each other senseless did spring to mind."

Tommy began to laugh. "You do have such a way with words my love; such a wicked tongue."

"Oh you haven't seen how wicked that can be yet." Barbara grinned when she saw his eyes widen. She enjoyed shocking him once in a while. It would keep him on his toes.

Tommy put his coffee cup on the window ledge then picked up his laptop from the desk and threw it onto the couch. He swept everything else onto the floor. In one quick movement Barbara found herself lifted onto the desk, her tee-shirt being pushed over her arms as Tommy was wiggling out of his shorts and retrieving his little foil pack from the pocket. "Tommy!... behave…oh my…you wouldn't dare!...oh Tom…"

If Barbara thought Tommy was used to such behaviour she was mistaken. Despite his reputation he had always been an attentive, considerate but somewhat conservative lover. Barbara brought out some traits in him that he found vaguely ungentlemanly and embarrassing but extremely satisfying. "I'm sorry about that," he said later as they lay panting on the desk.

"Why? I'm not," she said before she kissed him reassuringly.

"Well that could hardly be called romantic."

"I don't know. There's something very romantic about being desired like that and it certainly fits into the 'shagging each other senseless' box."

"You did seem to enjoy yourself,' he said gently as he kissed her neck, "you got quite vocal there at one stage. I expected security to come through the door and arrest me!"

"Your fault," she protested, "seems I'm not the only one with a wicked tongue."

"You bring out the beast in me," he growled playfully as he traced kisses down her chest.

He was interrupted by the buzz of his phone. "Lynley!" he snapped impatiently. He listened and made a few acknowledging grunts. "We'll be there in an hour."

"They think they've tracked down Roo's friend. They want us to go in."

Whitey had followed up on Winston's leads. Roo's online alias was RooBoy and his account had been largely filled with chat about school, robotics, soccer and chess. Most of RooBoy's friends had been based in England but one attracted their attention, 'KoolCat' whose IP address indicated they lived in Sydney. The conversations were different too, much more personal and yet still not giving anything away. "There are allusions to things not mentioned on the chat site," Whitey said, "I think they had some other form of secret communication too but there is no trace of it on his PC."

"Maybe they did it the old fashioned way and picked up the phone," Barbara suggested slightly acerbically.

Whitey looked up at her. "I never thought of that. I'll check. Anyway we chased KoolCat's IP address. It's registered to an address in Sydney."

"Do we have any idea who owns the account?" Barbara asked, "is there any way to see who is behind the alias?"

"Now that's where it gets interestin'. It links back to a simple online email anyone can open but I thought about tracin' other places KoolCat interacts and guess what?"

"I'm a little too tired for guessing," Tommy said flatly.

"Right, sorry. Geelong Cats – their fan page has a lot of posts from KoolCat ."

"That might explain the tickets for tonight. Do you have anything else?"

"Roo contacted KoolCat after he was kidnapped and when he was in Australia. He didn't do that with anyone else. Then the conversations ceased the day you arrived. I think they might have met up physically."

"Possibly, do we have any way to find a street address or a phone number linked to the IP address or KoolCat?"

"Yes," Cam said from the doorway where he was leaning looking pleased with himself. "I think we have an address in Bondi but it's an internet cafe."

"Great," Barbara groaned, "so it could be anyone."

"Except there's a pattern. He only ever posts before school or after school so we think it's a kid."

Tommy ran his hand through his hair. "Hmm, with the game tonight he might post something this afternoon. What time do schools finish?"

"Depends but generally about three-thirty."

"How long to get there?" Tommy asked looking at his watch.

"Thirty minutes at this time of the day. We'd have time."

The internet cafe was nothing more than a bank of computers in an old shop. There was no attendant and each PC had a cash or card machine built in to allow its clientele, mainly tourists, to purchase blocks of time. The foursome arrived just on three and waited patiently. A group of girls came in first followed ten minutes later by a smaller group of schoolboys. They were all high school age and older than the age bracket they expected but they scrutinised each of the boys carefully. No one stood out. Whitey scanned his iPad watching for any posts on the Geelong website but none came.

After an hour they headed back to the city. No one spoke. They had all believed this was a major lead. Finally Tommy spoke, "cheer up we will just have to see what Roo has planned for us tonight."

The Sydney Cricket Ground was a ground Tommy had seen on television many times as he watched generations of hapless English cricket teams lose The Ashes to the rampaging Australian teams. Tonight, under lights, the atmosphere was different. It buzzed with excitement as they tried to find firstly the stand they were in and then the section and row.

"I should have looked at a seating plan online," Tommy said to Barbara.

"Too clinical," she replied, "this is more fun."

He was unconvinced that any of this was fun. Hordes of fans in red and white surged past them clearly heading for their season seats. Red dominated his vision. There were family groups all dressed in team shirts struggling to keep together mixing with couples in beanies and scarves holding hands. Groups of young friends wearing the traditional sleeveless team guernsey rushed along the tunnel between stands chanting 'Go the Swannies!'. Grey-haired fans in thick red jackets walked more sedately, discussing whether Buddy would boot six again tonight. As they passed each stairway that led up into the concourse of the stand noise and energy pulsated at them.

Tommy took a firm grip on Barbara's hand. At one point most of the red army peeled off and climbed the stairs into the cauldron and they were left to follow a scraggly line of blue. At the base of the stand a stall sold souvenirs. "We should dress the part," Barbara said pulling him towards the stall.

"Why?"

"Because the tickets made it very clear who we were to support."

Begrudgingly Tommy paid for a navy baseball cap embroidered with a cheeky white pussycat for Barbara and settled on a navy and white woollen scarf for his neck with the logo discreetly woven into the ends before the tassels. "Happy?" he asked gruffly.

"Very, you look very dignified," she replied.

"Sorry but with that thing on your head I can't say the same."

"I thought I might wear it to bed tonight if we win," she said cheekily.

Tommy turned to look at her and raised his eyebrows but he could not suppress a grin that slowly spread across his face. Barbara grabbed his scarf and pulled him down to her and gave him a kiss. "Now everyone's seen you kiss me even though I have this on my head," she said triumphantly.

"I'll make sacrifices to solve the case."

They found their seats in amongst a small but vocal Geelong crowd who had started a slow chant, 'Gee-long...Gee-long'. The seats were, Tommy imagined, very good. The ground, unlike any other football code he knew was oval. At each end four goalposts rose high into the air, the outer two being shorter than the pair in the middle. A box was marked on the ground creating a square in front of the centre posts. Unlike rugby or gridiron codes there was no cross bar between the posts and no yard line marking out the metres of the field. Instead two large arcs with the big 50s on them marked out the fifty metre distance from the centre of the goalposts. A large square sat between the arcs and in turn it had a circle inside it, bifurcated by a line. Their seats were almost in line with fifty metre arc, on the middle tier high enough to see the action across the whole ground.

"Do you want a beer?" he asked.

"Should we? We're on duty."

"We'd blend in more," he replied.

"One," she said, "for the novelty. You couldn't do this in England."

Tommy headed back downstairs to find the bar. He had seen the sign shortly before they found their seats. "Record! Get ya Record heer-ya! Footy Record!"

Tommy saw a boy standing on a box selling a programme. He decided to buy one to help them understand the game. When he returned to Barbara he gave her the Record. "Here, see if you can work out what happens."

Barbara enjoyed the tribal atmosphere. While Tommy had been gone both teams had come onto the ground for a warm up. They were much bigger bodied than she imagined. There were different builds but each one had beautifully defined legs and biceps a weightlifter would be proud to show off. In their sleeveless, tight-fitting guernseys the definition of their pecs and abs was magnificent.

"Are you listening to me?" Tommy asked.

"Hmm, oh no sorry I was watching our boys. Number twenty-six is huge but he's like an Adonis. Look at those legs, they're like tree trunks, and oh look there he is on the big-screen, look at those baby blue eyes and that blonde hair. It flops just like yours."

Tommy felt a surge of jealousy. His physique was no match for any of the players. "Barbara! Please."

She poked him in the ribs. "Don't worry I wouldn't trade you for any of them besides it doesn't matter where you get your appetite as long as you eat at home."

Tommy pressed the soft plastic cup too hard as he took a sip and spluttered his beer over his trousers. "What have I fallen in love with?"

"Someone who adores you but still likes to knock his lordship off his poncy perch every once in a while." She leant over and kissed him.

"Getta room!" someone yelled out from behind then amongst whistling and whoops.

Tommy felt the colour surge up his neck. "The natives are restless," he remarked scanning the stand for any sign of Roo. Barbara started to laugh. "What's funny now?"

She showed him the team photos and he saw the name of her beefy Cat - Tommy! They looked at each other and grinned. "Well just make sure you come home with the right one please."

"Number three, Jimmy, he looks good too. This one's nice but he's got too many tattoos. This one is adorable but he's too young. Yes, says he's only eighteen. Okay, okay, I'll behave...What about number twenty-two?"

The stand slowly started to fill. The teams disappeared from the ground and the cheer squads lifted huge poles and unfurled delicate paper banners. The Geelong one read 'Support the Greatest Team of All' on one side and a big 'Congratulations on 300 Boris!' On the other. The rival banner had more mundane messages, 'Join the Swans' and 'Sing, Sing the red and the white; honour the name by day and by night'.

A huge roar went around the ground as the Swans returned to the ground and ran through their banner to the strains of their theme song. Barbara stood and cheered loudly as the Cats took the field. Boris had the honour of going through the banner alone followed by his team. All around them off-key voices screamed out their song, 'We are Geelong, the greatest team of all. We are Geelong, we're always on the ball; we play the game as it should be played, At home or far awaaaaaaay!...'. Tommy thought Bizet would spin in his grave to hear his Toreador's song mangled so.

Five men in lime green shirts and tight grey shorts marshalled the teams towards the centre. A coin was tossed by a fan and the Swans captain, a cheeky looking blonde, pointed towards the end of the ground they were sitting. One of the umpires raised the yellow ball, which looked very much like a rugby ball, aloft between his hands. The crowd hushed in anticipation. A siren sounded and the umpire slammed the ball into the ground with such force that it bounced high in the air. The crowd erupted into a cheer as two tall men, one from each side, took running leaps to grab the ball as it fell back to Earth. The tall Cat tapped it with his extended right hand past a Swan and onto the chest of his teammate, a speedy little blonde who zigzagged between two descending Swans and charged towards the goal. After twenty metres he bounced the ball, ran a few more yards then sensing an impending tackle used his fist to punch the ball to another Cat ten metres to his right. That man ran then kicked the ball long towards the big, blonde Tommy who charged from the goal-square to mark the ball on his chest. The Swans crowd groaned but the Cats fans cheered. Big Tommy took out his mouthguard and stuffed it into his sock then went back and lined up the goals. He walked in, began to trot then at running pace kicked the ball high. It sailed through the centre posts and into the crowds behind. The Cats fans cheered and stomped their feet and the players returned to the centre for another bounce.

Barbara watched the score go up on the big screen surprised that six points were awarded for the goal -1-0-6. "Why six points?" she asked her Tommy who was studying the Record.

"Six points for a goal and if it goes between the two outside posts it's called a behind and is only one point."

"A behind?"

"Yeah, doesn't say why they call it that."

They watched the game ebb and flow. It was fast and brutal. The men ran hard and tackled ferociously. Bodies thumped into each other bringing running men to a teeth-chattering halt. They squabbled in packs on the ground fighting over the ball and kicked it long or short to maintain possession. For the first ten minutes the Cats dominated kicking four goals, one an exciting snap from the boundary line that swung in a huge J-curve through the goals. The kicker raised his hands in the air in celebration and was mobbed by his team. Then the tempo changed. The Swans had more possession of the ball and after fighting their way up the field managed to score one goal and two behinds. By quarter time the Cats lead by three goals, 4-2-26 to 1-2-8.

Tommy went to get them another beer while Barbara sat watching the teams in their huddles, sipping on drinks and being barked at by coaches pointing furiously at large whiteboards held up by assistants. "Been a fan long?" a teenaged girl beside Barbara asked just as Tommy returned with their beers.

"Us? No…we were given tickets by someone we know. It is an exciting game though. It seems to have almost no rules."

"We'll you chose the right team to support. There's heaps of rules but you don't really need to know 'em to like the game. Just pick a side and cheer."

"Do you live in Sydney or are you up from Geelong?" Tommy asked trying to be friendly.

"Nah, live 'ere. Dad was a Cats fan when he was alive so I followed the tradition. Did you know Geelong is the second oldest club formed in 1859, the same year as Melbourne footy club."

"Wow, that's a long history," Barbara said, "what's the oldest soccer club in England?"

"Sheffield I think," he replied thoughtfully, "about 1857 if memory serves me correctly."

"Do you have any connection to the team?" the girl asked.

"No, not really," Barbara replied cheerily, "although this one has the same first name as your big full forward."

"And our centre back number thirteen then too," the girl answered. "Tommy is a good name."

The siren blew and the teams took their places. Another bounce started the quarter. It was tight and physical. A couple of heads clashed together hard and both men had to be substituted off under the blood rule returning with bandages swathing their heads as soon as they could be patched. A ball was kicked high and long and one of the Cats leapt high in the air and tumbled to the ground with the ball to the cheers of the Geelong fans and the appreciative applause of the Swans. "How do they leap that high?" Barbara asked, "his knees were above that Swan's shoulders and the guy looks about seven foot tall!"

"They're certainly athletic," Tommy replied glumly. He was uncertain about whether he liked Barbara openly admiring other men. As if she sensed his distress she put her hand on his knee and softly stroked the inside of his thigh. He looked up and smiled at her but her eyes were firmly directed at the other Tommy and his team of blue and white hooped athletes.

At half time Barbara left Tommy in the seats while she went to the restroom and to buy them some food. There were choices but she had asked Cam what was traditional footy fare so bought them a meat pie with tomato sauce and another beer each. She balanced the grey, moulded paper tray carefully as she climbed back up to their seats. There had been no sign of Roo or any form of contact. She and Tommy had both looked and had left each other alone to promote opportunities. He shook his head when she returned.

"One dog's eye and dead horse," she said as she handed him his paper bag.

Tommy screwed up his face as if he were in pain. "Pardon?"

"One meat pie and tomato sauce," she said laughing at his expression as he tentatively opened the bag.

The third quarter was quick and the Cats got away to a healthy lead but in the fourth Sydney made a run and started to pare back the gap. The ball moved quickly up and down the ground leaving the English couple a little bewildered and uncertain who would win. After three lightening quick goals from the Swans the crowd was on their feet roaring. With two minutes to go they were only nine points behind the Cats with plenty of time to win. The ball was stuck in one area of the ground at the Sydney end and the girl next to Barbara was getting nervous. She fidgeted and stood and sat trying to get a better view. The yellow pill was forced out of bounds again and for the third time in a minute the umpire stood facing the crowd the ball held high. As he bent his knees and leapt up he threw the ball over his head back into play and men flew to take possession. It was tapped down to the Geelong captain, a wily, nuggetty man, who weaved in and around three Swans and stormed down the ground. From the centre square he kicked it straight onto the chest of the big full forward and the chant of 'Tom-my, Tom-my' started in the Geelong crowd.

"C'arn the Cats!" the girl sitting beside Barbara yelled.

Barbara joined in the fun and stood with the others to see him go back and slot it straight between the goals. The Swans would need to kick three goals in a minute to win and the crowd sensed the Geelong victory. Lines of red started to stream up the aisles trying to beat the mass exodus after the game while the Gee-long chant became louder. Barbara joined in and pulled Tommy to his feet. With a sharp jab in the ribs he joined in the chant as the last minute played out. The siren went and the Geelong fans erupted into song. The Cats theme crackled over the loudspeaker and Barbara sang along. Tommy watched in amusement that his little feisty sergeant who had only ever shown disdain for sport at home could get so carried away with a game that did not have the rigour, structure or beauty of rugby or soccer. Actually the game suited her personality well. The 300 game veteran was chaired from the ground on the shoulders of his teammates and all the Geelong faithful clapped and cheered wildly for their long-serving hero.

At the end of the song everyone started to head for the exits. The girl next to Barbara tugged at her sleeve. "I'm glad you liked the game. Here have my Record as a souvenir."

Before Barbara could thank her she had slipped out of sight and disappeared into the crowd swarming out of the stadium. Barbara turned to Tommy. "That girl gave me her Record as a souvenir but we have yours."

She was about to toss it into a rubbish bin when he stopped her. "Wait, let me see."

He thumbed through it quickly. "A curse on the House of York!"

Barbara thought he had been jostled. "What? Why can't you just swear like normal people?" she said laughing.

"Because I'm not a normal person!" He showed her the Record. "That girl was KoolCat!"

* * *

* Okay, so most of you will not be footy fans but now you might guess the origin of my penname. And yes, number twenty-six is Tommy and built as described and the player nicknamed Boris plays his 300th game in a few weeks. Oh and this Saturday guess which two teams play!


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note: **I have taken poetic licence with the features on Tommy's iPad. I am aware that physics makes any such setting impossible without an attachment but reality would spoil my fun...

* * *

They strolled sombrely back towards the city leaving the crowds outside the ground clamouring for buses and taxis. Tommy had the Record secured in his inside jacket pocket. When he had flicked through it and seen the markings he had known instantly that Roo was sending them important information. It was impossible to decipher there so they had agreed to go back to the apartment and decide on the next steps. Tommy grumbled impatiently about the crowd and then became sullen.

"It's not your fault," Barbara said earnestly as she took his hand, "we weren't expecting a teenage girl."

"Why not? We should've been open to any possibility. I was too distracted by your interest in huge footballers with bulging muscles to think straight."

Tempted to drop his hand she instead gripped it harder. "No, you're not doing that. This is not my fault either. If we'd sprung her she would never have given us the information. What happened was how they planned it. She ensured it really was us then waited. Nothing we did would have changed it. And jealousy is not attractive Tommy." The tone of her last sentence was designed to send him a distinct message.

"Jealousy is part of who I am Barbara and you know it!" he retorted bitterly as he struggled to release his hand.

Barbara stopped walking but refused to let go of his hand forcing him to stop and look at her. She pulled him back out of the crowd, up against the window of a Porsche dealership. He was clearly angry. If she was still only his partner she would have told him, politely, to grow up and pull his upper class head in. Now that they were lovers it was important to put an end to his insecurities and petty resentments.

"Yes but you're better than that as a policeman, as a friend and as my…lover. Loyalty is part of who I am but if you don't understand that after ten years of me traipsing faithfully around behind you and supporting you through all your sufferings then whatever we have here is never going to work." She dropped his hand and looked down at the ground.

Tommy was shocked. He had not expected her to take his words literally. He pulled her into a tight embraced and hugged her tightly. "Oh Barbara, I know, I'm sorry. I've never doubted your loyalty and I know you were only joking with me."

She leaned back to look at him. "I'll never cheat on you Tommy. Even when you got married and I tried those dating agencies most of the blokes were losers but even if they hadn't been they weren't you. I can't love anyone else!"

For once Tommy had no words to accurately say what he felt. It was a bold admission but he knew it was true. Barbara was strong enough to love him totally, the way he had wanted Helen and Deborah to love him. More importantly she was resilient enough to put up with his possessiveness and temper and ground him back in reality. He did not feel worthy of that type of love. "Even when I am a fool?"

"Especially when you are a poncy, aristocratic fool with no idea about real life."

He could see the smile in the corner of her mouth. "That's why I need you then," he said before he kissed her lovingly.

They walked on silently, arm-in-arm through the city which was still alive with the noise and movement of young people enjoying life. The red digital clock on top of a building taunted them with the promise of a new day in less than half an hour. Barbara knew the answer but she was compelled to ask. "Should we phone Davo now or wait until the morning?"

"I don't like being outsmarted by a nine year old. This message was for us and I think we will be able to solve it. No one will be interested at this time on a Friday night. It's not as if we have a location or a suspect. You and I can have a look then by morning we might have more to go on."

Back at the hotel Tommy retrieved his laptop, iPad and pulled a pair of black framed reading glasses from his case. The sharp edges gave him an intellectual and serious guise that Barbara found alluring. "How long have you had those?" she asked with a smile.

"For three weeks but I try not to use them," he said very quietly. Tommy thought his glasses were a sign of weakness, a loss of function that was the start of a decline into old age.

His embarrassment made Barbara like the glasses even more. "They make you look incredibly sexy, like some sort of charismatic professor."

Tommy grinned at her. "Some sort of fantasy?" he asked impishly, "I'll happily wear them to bed if we can solve this."

She had always found the way he grinned at her erotic but now that she knew what waited behind the grin she struggled to stay focussed. This was not the time to tumble into bed no matter how much she wanted it. "Then let's start before we get carried away. We need to find Roo!"

With a deep breath Tommy snapped back into his professional mode. "KoolCat, or maybe Roo, has written 1857 on the page talking about the history of Geelong Football Club, and they've underlined 1859. Now go through the programme page by page and copy out the letters exactly onto the PC while I try to figure out the key. It has to be those dates."

"Is there any connection or is it just coincidence that Sheffield was the oldest club in England and that's where Roo lived?"

"I thought coincidence but to be honest I'm just not sure any more."

Fifteen minutes later Barbara was finished. She had checked twice but had all the notations transferred. "Done. There were a lot more underlined letters than those circled but the last few are interesting. I put the circled ones in bold so we can see them easier. At the end I have a word then some sort of number."

"Oh? What?" Tommy was instantly alert.

"Clear AFP 345-16784-547 but the rest of it has no recognisable words."

"Clear? I think that means exactly that. The information following is not encoded. It is some sort of number. Too long for a phone number."

"Looks like a filing number or something."

"AFP, I wonder if that's the Australian Federal Police."

"Makes sense. Can you work out the rest?"

"Copy and paste it onto another page. The simplest key is two because it's the difference in years. We'll try that first. So add two letters so A becomes C etc."

Tommy leant over her shoulder while they typed a new set of letters underneath the first row of the originals. "Nothing," she said disappointedly, "it's still gobbledy-gook."

"Try two letters behind."

She typed in the first ten letters. "Nah."

"Pull all the circled letters out separately." He watched while Barbara duly copied them. It was a familiar and comforting feeling working together but it was even more special now. Watching her work he knew he wanted her by his side every day, making decisions about the estate and their future. His fear was that she would not want to be part of his world beyond the Met.

"Still the same. Maybe the circles are the start of sentences."

Tommy dragged his mind back to the task at hand. "Good idea, break it up that way and we'll work on the first one. Once we get a pattern the rest will be easy."

"Nah, too short for sentences. Do you think these might be names?" she suggested when she saw a list of shortish words developing.

"Yes, I do," he agreed, "what key would he have used? Try 21 numbers forward and back."

She looked at him. "Maybe you can count that far. Besides how does that differ to five back?"

"You're right; the maximum distance will be thirteen. I guess we can try all of them."

"Can't you rig that on a spreadsheet of something? And what if it's not that simple?"

"It has to do with the dates I'm sure. It has to be simple enough for us to decipher or it defeats the point."

"Number 26? That was Tommy's number," she said enthusiastically.

"Er, no I don't think so. How many letters in the alphabet Barbara?"

"Yeah, we'd be back to scratch or would it be minus one?"

They puzzled over it for another hour trying different combinations. Barbara started to yawn. "Why don't we leave it until the morning when our heads are clearer?"

"You go. I'll try a bit longer," Tommy answered. He could feel they were on the cusp of solving it.

She stayed with him as long as she could but a little after four o'clock she started to fall asleep. Tommy looked across loving at her and nudged her awake. "Go to bed Barbara, I'll be along soon, I promise."

Barbara decided to have a warm shower. She kissed him goodnight then wandered off to the bathroom. As the water ran over her she smiled as she thought about Tommy in his glasses trying so hard to figure it out. He wanted to solve the case so badly that it was starting to gnaw at him, which was never good, but when he was like that he had a raw energy that she had always admired. It was rare for him to be outwitted, let alone by a boy. She knew he would work it out, he always did.

Tommy watched her shower. He stood leaning against the bathroom door unconsciously chewing on the arm of his glasses, taking in every curve and every perfect imperfection of her as she stood beneath the cascading water. Becoming lovers had almost been too easy after that first awkward kiss. They intuitively understood each other's needs and had quickly become comfortable and confident to explore their desires. He stripped off his clothes and tossed them haphazardly back into the bedroom. He moved to the end of the rainfall shower and stood as nonchalantly as he could against the wall. "May I join you?"

Barbara was startled but when she saw him standing there naked she smiled. "Yes."

Tommy soaped his hands then ran them slowly over her back. "I missed you."

"I've only been gone five minutes."

"Hmm, but I realised that was too long. I couldn't focus without you. I never could. I've always needed you since our first case."

"You just think that. You'd cope."

"Don't ever make me find out." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her so tenderly that it sent shivers up her spine.

Almost an hour later he again kissed her tenderly as they lay together and watched the jet black skies begin to fade. "We should get some sleep but I thought of something. I want to ring Mother."

"You thought of your mother while we were..."

"No! I thought of it before, that's why I came into the bathroom. But one thing led to another and..."

"I'm glad they did," she said before she kissed him.

"Me too. This is definitely better." Tommy gave her another quick kiss then hopped out of bed and retrieved his iPad. He settled back into bed propped up against the cool silken bedhead. He ran his fingers through his hair to straighten it and dialled his mother.

Barbara assumed he had been intending to phone and had been cuddled up to his hip. Once she realised he was Skyping she scowled at him then wriggled away out of line of sight much to his amusement.

"Good evening Mother. How are you?"

"Tommy! Improving slowly thank you. Peter and Judith are both here fussing after me but it makes me feel old. You look wonderfully relaxed. You have some good news for me I take it?"

Tommy was puzzled. "Not really. We still haven't found the boy but he's alive. He sent us a..."

"Hello big brother," Peter said as his face suddenly appeared on the camera. He frowned then started grinning and turned away from the screen. "Judith, come quickly Tommy's shagging Barbara on Skype!"

"Peter!" Tommy and his mother yelled together in the same horrified and admonishing tone.

Tommy looked over apologetically at Barbara who had turned scarlet. She pulled the sheet over her head and sunk from view.

"Oh Barbara wait," his mother Dorothy called out, "I think it's wonderful news."

Barbara crawled her way out the bottom of the bed and turned around and glared accusingly at Tommy. She arched her eyebrows requesting an explanation. Before Tommy could speak Judith's voice came out of the small speaker. "Hello you two. Where's Barbara?"

Tommy suddenly remembered he had altered the iPad settings when he was taking photographs earlier this morning. "Sorry everyone, I had my camera set to wide angle when I took some photos of the harbour. I must have forgotten to turn it back. Barbara, I'm dreadfully sorry. I would never have done that to you deliberately."

He looked so pathetic and embarrassed that Barbara could not stay angry with him. That did not however mean this was the end of the conversation. How could she ever face his family again now that they knew she had been intimate with their son and brother?

"I am so happy for you both," Dorothy called out, "the way you moped around when you were here Tommy it was obvious how you felt. I told you that you might be surprised if you told Barbara. He was scared that you'd reject him dear, but I knew you never would."

Barbara watched Tommy turn red and look at her forlornly. Oddly she felt a surge of love for him despite being distressed that he had discussed her with his mother. She had told him earlier that she would only ever love him. What was the point of hiding it? She sighed and pulled on her tee-shirt, tried to straighten her hair, then climbed back into bed and snuggled up beside him. "Hiya," she said as she waved self-consciously at three pairs of curious eyes. Tommy's arm came protectively around her shoulders and he kissed the top of her head. She knew this meant a lot to him.

"Welcome to our family Barbara," Judith said gaily.

"You're good for my brother," Peter said sincerely, "I can be an idiot, as he will constantly tell you, but I'm glad you've finally worked out you're perfect for each other."

"Have you set a date for the wedding?" Dorothy asked hopefully.

Barbara had not even thought about that even being a possibility. She was not sure if his mother was truly as pleased as she was trying to sound. "No! We're not getting married! I could never..." She stopped when she saw the pain in Tommy's eyes. "...even contemplate it until we find the missing boy."

When he exhaled slowly he realised he had been holding his breath. He tightened his hold around her shoulder. This conversation had not gone to plan and he was annoyed by his brother but more so by his mother. "I think I can manage my own proposal Mother, when the time is right," he spat angrily, "now I actually rang for a reason. Do you remember that book Father had on Bletchley Park?"

"I know it," Peter said, "it had a lot of interesting things about cryptography."

"That's the one. Could you fetch it please? I want to see if it has anything about dates as code keys."

"What do you have?" Peter asked.

Tommy sighed at his brother. "Two years 1857 and 1859. Now can you fetch the book please Peter?"

"Don't dismiss me as if I'm a fool, Tommy. I gather plus or minus two didn't work."

"No, neither did eight," Tommy said thinking Peter would soon tire of the game.

"Three or five?"

"No, I even tried three then five but that didn't work either."

"What are you two talking about?" their mother asked.

Peter frowned then explained, "one plus eight equals nine plus five equals fourteen plus seven equals twenty one so two plus one equals three. 1859 adds up to five."

Judith joined in the conversation giving Barbara visions of the family sitting around the fire solving conundrums. Peter stroked his chin. "What if you eliminate the common numbers and just use seven and nine?"

Tommy frowned at Barbara. "Did we try that?"

"I don't think so. Talk amongst yourselves I'll be back in a minute." Barbara climbed carefully out of the bed and retrieved Tommy's laptop. She returned just in time to hear him hiss at his mother, "of course I intend to propose, I'm not a complete fool Mother, but I'll do it in my own time. Barbara is hardly going to want to leap into this family is she, especially after tonight?"

She made a warning noise as she came through the door. "No, we hadn't, let me try it now."

Nobody spoke while she decoded a few letters. "No...oh hang on this might work. One word here says V_i_k_t_o_r."

"Keep going," Tommy encouraged her.

"Rodevski! It is a name. Oh yes Peter you're brilliant!"

"Excellent work Barbara," Tommy enthused. She pinched his leg below the camera line and he understood. "Thank you Peter, I think you just cracked the code and possibly the case for us."

"It wasn't very hard. Sometimes Tommy you try too hard to find what you think you should find or what you want to find and yet the real answer is right under your nose."

Tommy understood the thinly veiled message. "I'm getting much better at reality Peter. Now we must go and finish decoding this message. We'll be in touch. Good bye."

Barbara looked up and waved at the family who were bidding farewell. She felt connected to them in a way that fifteen minutes ago she would never have dreamt was possible but she was still annoyed at Tommy for having put her in that situation. She had not really considered much about the future beyond their time together in Sydney. She had vaguely imagined that back in London the pressures of life would be too great and their differences too stark. Now it appeared the family were thinking about her marrying him!

"Don't you ever do that again!" she said sternly, "what if I'd slipped under the covers to torment you and they'd seen me?"

Tommy was horrified at the suggestion. "You wouldn't have! Not while I was on the phone surely."

Barbara started to laugh. "You are so easy to shock sometimes Lord Puritan. No, I wouldn't but it would have served you right."

"I love you," he said sincerely.

"I know you do, for now."

"No, I mean it, I really do love you. I did before we started any of this but being with you, getting to know more about you, I've fallen more deeply in love with you than I ever thought I could love anyone."

Barbara was shocked by his words. If he said anything else; or if she had to reply she knew she would start crying. So she did the only thing that seemed appropriate, she kissed him. "Now, back to work. I meant what I said. We can't contemplate the future until we solve this case."


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's note:** Sorry for the delay. Real life reared its ugly head very unpleasantly last week and bit me badly. I have not been able to focus on our two friends. If this feels rushed, it was!

* * *

Barbara tried to stifle a yawn. It was a little after eight o'clock and she was standing next to Tommy as he explained to the assembled police team how they had cracked the code. She was grateful that he had omitted any reference to contacting his family.

"There are nine names here," Tommy went on, "and this address in Cringila. I think that's where Roo may have been held."

"And this nipper thinks that playin' spies with his secrets codes is useful. What're we s'posed to do? Raid the place based on this?" Bazza snorted.

"Yes," Lynley answered him, "that's exactly what I propose."

"And what judge'll issue a warrant based on your decodin' of some underlined letters in a football programme?"

"Most of them," Davo cut in, "and I'm going to find one now. Excellent work you two. You look exhausted. Did you get any sleep?"

"A little," Tommy lied.

"This'll take a few hours to sort out. Go home and get some sleep," Davo insisted.

"We want to be part of this," Barbara replied in away that brooked no argument.

"You will. I promise."

Back at the apartment Barbara climbed gratefully into bed. Tommy undressed but then dashed back into the living room before returning with his glasses and iPad. Barbara looked at him and groaned. "No!" she said firmly, "no Skyping and no sex."

Tommy laughed. "I promise never to Skype anyone again unless I'm fully dressed and I'm as tired as you. I just thought you should leave a message for Roo."

"How?"

"Reply to a comment by KoolCat on the Cats page."

"Sneaky you."

Tommy found the site and quickly created an account with the alias of Barb. "Here's her latest comment 'Good game. Tommy is a smart player in form.' That has to be for us."

"That's a bit egotistical isn't it?"

"Possibly," Tommy admitted then continued completely ignoring her implication, "what if we put 'Thanks for your insights and help with the team stats. I understand the rules now. HOpe to meet again soon'? Does that sound okay?"

"No, it sounds like you're trying to send a message. What about 'Great result. Tommy read the play brilliantly. Go Cats!'?"

Tommy typed it into the box and pressed send. "That should tell them we understood."

He was about the log out when a message from KoolCat appeared. He read it to Barbara. "CU at the next game. Take care."

"They understand. Now sleep."

Tommy held her tightly and kissed the top of her head gently. Barbara knew he was worried. "What's wrong?"

"I'd prefer you didn't go today. I don't want you to get hurt." Tommy had a strange feeling something was going to go wrong and the harder he tried to ignore it the more his stomach sank and his heart-rate increased.

Barbara bristled at his over-protectiveness and wriggled to try and loosen his grip. "I won't be. I don't want you hurt either but we have a job to do. We have an obligation to those kids."

"I know but we also have an obligation to each other."

Barbara knew he was right and understood his fears after losing Helen but she was not going to allow him to be possessive and paternalistic. "If this is going to last..."

Tommy moved back from her in horror. "Why wouldn't it last? You're my life Barbara. You are the reason I exist. I thought after the last few days you knew that. I thought I meant the same to you."

Barbara took a deep breath. "You do. You know that but I also know that loving you will never change you and you can't expect me to change either. If we stop to second guess ourselves for fear of what might happen we won't be good at our jobs anymore. I'll be careful, I promise but you have to put the job first not your feelings for me. That's why they don't like couples serving together remember."

"I've always put you first," Tommy protested.

"No, you haven't. Remember charging into barns against women with shotguns? Or any number of other occasions that you tried to get yourself killed. That can't change. Well it can, you can be more careful, but not because you are worried about me."

"I just have an uneasy feeling about today," he admitted quietly as he pulled her back into his arms.

Barbara snuggled into him and stroked his back. "I promise to be careful. I haven't waited this long to be like this only to lose it. Now go to sleep!"

Six hours later they were assembled at the Bulli lookout being briefed by Davo and Gibbo. One of the names on the list was a Chief Inspector in the Wollongong police so Gibbo had brought in ten officers from Vice to assist. Assignments were given and plans and timings synchronised. There were to be simultaneous raids on seven properties. "Barb, you go with Bazza to the house in Cringila in case the kids are there and need reassurance. Tommy you can come with Gibbo and me to Wollongong LAC to arrest our corrupt friend. I need someone from a neutral force there so he can't claim we abused the process."

Barbara say the distress on Tommy's face. She was still annoyed that he had become so smothering. "That will be fine," she said quickly avoiding his gaze.

As they moved to their vehicles Tommy grabbed her painfully by the arm. "Don't do anything stupid just to prove a point Sergeant," he hissed quietly.

"I'm not. I just want to do our job and rescue those kids. Then we can sort our relationship issues out."

Her words stung Tommy. "We don't have relationship issues! I love you and intend to spend my life with you. I simply want you to be alive long enough to enjoy what we can become. Take care." He turned and started to walk away.

"Tommy wait!" Barbara caught up to him and put her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. I'll be careful. I still find this very...awkward. I love you more than anything, you do understand that don't you?"

He looked at her and smiled. Her eyes were open to her soul. He could see the storm of conflict raging there but above everything was a certainty that she did love him. "Yes, I do."

Barbara rushed back to the car when Bazza honked the horn impatiently. "Sorry," she said as she thumped down into the passenger seat.

"No problem love. How long 'ave you two been t'gether?" he replied sympathetically.

"We've worked together for ten years."

"That's not what I meant. You're a lot more 'n workmates."

"What makes you say that?"

"I didn't come down in the last shower love! It's pretty bloody obvious you two are 'avin' some kinda affair but I can't tell if it's somethin' new or somethin' real old."

"Both," Barbara said cryptically.

"You're good together. Lynners might sound stuck up but he's okay. He'll protect ya."

"I don't need protecting! Why does everyone think I need looking after today?"

"Because you do Babs. Everyone does. Don't try to get through life alone because that's exactly what ya'll be. I know thanks to two ex-wives. Lynners needs protectin' too an' you do that all the time. Let 'im return the favour once in a while."

Barbara nodded and then looked away from the grin that spread across his face. The damned man was right but she did not know how to surrender that last piece of independence.

"Ya don't 'ave to give up bein' who you are love. Ya just 'ave to make decisions for both of yers instead of just yerself. I think ya've been doin' that for years anyway but just can't admit it."

Barbara stared at him wondering if he could read her mind. "It's complicated."

"Horse doo doo!," he said as he winked at her, "it's simple really. Either yers love each other or it's just sex. Work that out an' the answer's pretty bloody clear."

Barbara smiled and chuckled. "Horse doo doo?"

"The blokes make me pay a dollar every time I swear. Cost me a fu...flipping fortune! After a while not swearin' b'comes a habit."

They stopped several doors up from the house. Bazza handed Barbara a bullet-proof vest that she strapped on carefully. The other officers were heavily armed and Bazza drew his handgun. She followed him closely as they carefully made their way down the street. She looked around at the modest houses. Most were timber with faded, flaking paint. Yards were overgrown and some were so unkempt grass grew through discarded sofas or bikes left rotting in the sun. Once they had been proudly kept by local workers but now they were neglected and hopeless, reflecting the lost glory of the heady days of full employment. Some curtains were pulled back from the windows to watch the show. Some just pulled slightly to peer unobtrusively; others blazenly open with a line of curious faces. "Lotsa drug addicts an' refugees 'ere," Bazza said, "it's a bad neighbourhood but great for somethin' like this."

As they crept up to the house Bazza hissed a warning. "I've got a bad feelin' about this love. Stick close."

Walking abreast into the Wollongong station with Davo in the centre and Gibbo on the left, Tommy expected to hear the theme music from The Untouchables. They spoke briefly with the officer in charge then proceeded down a sunny corridor to the office of DCI Stefan Jonovski. The man blustered and protested but walked out of his office with dignity and walked proudly down the hall into the interview room. Davo confronted him about the paedophile ring rattling off the list of names Roo had provided. Jonovski looked shocked but quickly hid it. He held firm until Davo mentioned Roo's father. Tommy saw the flicker of awareness and fear.

"He's alive isn't he?" Tommy demanded.

"Who?"

"David Woods. He's alive and that worries you."

"It doesn't worry me. I've done nothing wrong. All you've got is the ramblings of a gambler who'd sell his grandmother. I've nothing to fear from him...or you."

"Then tell me how a nine year old boy knew you and all those names?"

"Over-active imagination. I don't know...his father must have told him."

"So you know which boy I was referring to then? How?"

"You've just been talking about Woods. I assumed it was his boy."

"How did you know he had a boy? The lad's been living in England."

"He must've mentioned it."

"So you admit you know him?"

Jonovski grimaced then sighed. "I interviewed him when he beat up his wife."

"When?" Gibbo asked.

"I can't remember. Two, maybe three years ago."

"Did you charge him?" Tommy asked.

"No, we gave him a warning."

"Despite the fact he had done it before."

"Yeah, well sometimes you can't prove stuff. Like now. If you'll excuse me I'm going back to work unless you have anything more." The man stood and arrogantly smirked at the men opposite him.

Kosti came into the room and handed Davo a piece of paper. He held it up triumphantly. "Actually we can. You see we raided your house too and Tech Services have just found your hidden room. At least twenty computers all full of child pornography. Seems like you hosted a pay-per-view service from there."

"I want a solicitor," Jonovski bleated.

"And I want those boys. This says you had photos of them in cages. Where are the cages?"

The man remained silent. Tommy thought a different tack might rattle him. "You know of course that Woods gave us everything. It's only a matter of time now."

"He didn't know anything and he's been locked away for weeks so you have nothing you pommie git."

Davo and Tommy exchanged glances. "You used Woods as your gaoler. He's at the house at Cringila. Do you really think he hasn't talked?"

Davo and Tommy both saw the shock on Jonovski's face. Tommy had guessed correctly. He pressed his advantage. "What did you have over him to force him to do that?"

Gibbo burst through the door. "Davo a second."

Davo excused himself for the tape recording then followed Gibbo. He returned triumphantly a few seconds later. "We conducted seven raids. We've arrested everyone and found photos, records, links to other crimes. You're all going down for a long time. It will go easier on you if you co-operate. Nasty place gaols for ex-coppers."

"Don't threaten me Davidson! It was his son. He would have done anything to keep the boy safe. He sent him away but we found him because he was stupid enough to contact them. He was going to expose us. I want to ring my solicitor."

Davo nodded and the corrupt officer pulled out his mobile and dialled a number. His conversation was short. "It's me. Do it."

"Do what?" Davo demanded.

"Poof!" Jonovski laughed and made a mushroom cloud gesture with his hands. "No evidence."

Davo swore colourfully. "They've rigged the Cringila house to blow. You'll keep you filthy low-life scum."

Tommy went white. His dread from earlier gripped his stomach and twisted into knots. Davo explained quickly to Kosti and Gibbo then the three men set off at pace for the car pulling on cumbersome bulletproof vests.

Tommy tried to call Barbara's mobile but there was no answer. "Can't you drive any faster?" he snapped at Gibbo.

"We'll get there. They'll be okay," Davo said more confidently than Tommy believed he felt.

It was only a five minute drive but it felt like an eternity. The siren blazed and their lights flashed. Traffic moved out of their path but still it was too slow. Finally the car pulled in at a forty-five degree angle to the kerb and the men jumped out. Tommy started to run towards the open door of the small, cream weatherboard cottage. He was about fifteen yards from the entrance when Barbara appeared with two scared boys wearing only skimpy underpants. "Run," he yelled, "there's a bomb!"

Barbara looked straight at him. She shoved the boys towards him and disappeared back inside. "No! Come back Barbara."

The boys ran and clung to Tommy. They gripped his legs so tightly it hampered any movement. He scooped them up and turned to hand them to one of the other officers. As he spun back to run into the house Barbara appeared clutching a small, frightened boy. He looked no more than three or four. Bazza came out of the house directly behind her. She had taken about four running steps when the house rumbled and shook. Tommy watch in slow motion horror as flames filled the windows. The house seemed to expand then slowly contract before it exploded in a red and yellow fireball. Tommy could not look away. Barbara threw the boy at him and now the boy was crying in his arms. He had no recollection of catching him. She crashed to the ground about ten yards in front of him. Bazza dived on top of her in a chivalrous act that surprised Tommy.

The force of the explosion lifted Tommy off his feet. He turned away and shielded the boy. Shards of glass shot out like shrapnel and cut Bazza badly. Tommy felt fragments pound into his bullet proof vest and whip around his unprotected limbs and head. Runnels of blood trickled down his neck. When Tommy looked back at the burning house he knew instinctively the ocker policeman was dead. Tommy felt someone pull the young boy away as he scrambled on hands and knees over to Barbara, ignoring the pain of the glass cutting his hands and legs. He stumbled to his feet and rushed over to where she lay lifeless beneath Bazza as a pool of dark blood oozed across the grass. His premonition had become reality.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note:** Sorry you don't like my cliffhangers! Also apologies for the delay. I accidentally deleted my chapter and had to write it again :-(

* * *

Tommy was transported to that moment when he had stumbled back in disbelief as he watched the life leave Helen's eyes. Then he had Barbara to anchor him to the world. This time the universe was spinning and slowly extending, drawing him away from everything that was real. He reached Barbara just as Cam did. Tommy took her hand. It was warm and soft but unresponsive. Cam and Davo gently rolled Bazza away from Barbara. Tommy watched in surreal detachment as the Australians reverently closed his vacant eyes. Tommy could not look at Barbara. The horror of staring at Helen still haunted him. It was the only clear memory he had of her now.

Cam was kneeling beside Tommy checking for vital signs. "She's alive! Get that ambulance here now!"

_Alive! T_ommy looked down and examined the scene methodically and without feeling. The blood had come from the artery in Bazza's neck. He patted Barbara's unconscious body looking for wounds but other than an egg on her temple and a few minor glass cuts she seemed unscathed. He pulled her up into his arms and cradled her, rocking gently back and forward. He was muttering something but his mind was blank. The only thing that mattered was that she lived.

The paramedics needed the police crew to pull Tommy away so that they could examine her. She was placed on a gurney and rushed away. Someone led Tommy by the arm as they followed. He felt weak and his legs wobbled. It was only when Davo stood in front of him that Tommy realised everything was echoed and distant. "I can't hear," he said vacantly.

Someone helped him sit and the pain shot through him. He leapt up and protested. Hands grabbed him and forced him back down but this time he was lying on his stomach. It hurt less and he acquiesced. At some point he lost contact with reality. Lights flashed vaguely across his vision, red and blue, orange and green. He was cold and yet he was sweating. He tried to tear at his tie but his hands did not co-operate and he gave up. A low grunting sound reminded Lynley of a farm pig wallowing in mud; then he realised it was coming from him. His legs began to burn in curved lines as if Lucifer was whipping him with his tail. "Get thee away demon!" he screamed. He was flying. First left then right. Someone was beating his legs. The light was muted and red. This must be Hell!

When Barbara woke it was not Tommy holding her hand but Cam. That made no sense. Tommy had been there. She had almost reached him. She remembered falling. Something large and heavy had forced her to the ground. Tommy had turned away. He had the boy. Glass! Glass had flown around her. It had pelted into Tommy's back. "Tommy! Where's Tommy?" she cried as she tried to sit up.

"He's okay Barbara," Cam reassured her, "he's getting treatment for glass cuts and a ruptured ear drum in the other part of Emergency." Cam didn't mention that he was suffering badly from shock.

"Can I see him? Take me to him Cam," she pleaded as she tried to sit up.

"Shoosh, in a while. You've been unconscious for nearly three hours. You're not going anywhere just yet young lady."

"But he'll be worried. Go and tell him I'm fine and find out when they'll let me see him."

"Yes ma'am," Cam replied as he saluted her and grinned.

"I don't care if you think I'm bossy! I want to know how he is. Now go."

Tommy had been sedated to help manage his shock. Now he was calmer the doctors were methodically removing the glass shards from his legs. Cam asked the doctor about his condition and explained about Barbara. The doctor came over to see her. "Ms Havers?"

"Yes."

"I'm Doctor Fuller. Your...partner...Mr Lynley is having some glass removed from his legs. He will be another hour or so. I think we need to keep you under observation as well for another few hours. The scans were clear of bleeding but I suspect you have a massive headache." Barbara nodded. "I'll arrange for him to come over when we're done. Will that help?"

"Yes, thank you. Tommy can afford the best care. Whatever it takes," she said desperately.

The doctor raised his eyebrows. "We don't discriminate in our treatment here at Wollongong Hospital Ms Havers. You will both get good care."

When the doctor left her cubicle Barbara stared at Cam who was grinning broadly. "What?"

"You've only been together a few days and already you're throwing the poor man's hard earned around."

"Trust me, he can afford it. What about the boys?"

"All safe but traumatised. Two of them were missing persons so they've been re-united with their parents. That's where Davo and the others are. It was very brave of you to go back for that boy."

"He was crying. Bazza had him but he was scared and wouldn't go with him. Because he was a man I guess. Bazza! How's he? He tried to shield me but he was bloody heavy."

Cam took Barbara's hand. She knew instantly was he was going to say. "No!" she wailed, "no! I misunderstood him but he had a heart of gold."

"I know. The team are devastated about it but he would have wanted you to live Barbara. He liked you. Thought you were down to earth and a compassionate cop."

Tears ran down Barbara's face. "I'm sorry Cam."

Cam hugged her. "You're safe though. Imagine the paperwork for The Met if we lost either of you."

An hour later Barbara was 'resting' in the ward, demanding five minute updates on Tommy. Cam insisted on staying with them and driving them back to Sydney. Neither of them spoke except when he came back from his regular checks on Tommy who was eventually wheeled in to the cubicle beside her, face down on the bed. He was facing away from Barbara and was complaining loudly in his best Lord Asherton voice that he wanted to be informed immediately about the condition of his partner.

"I'm fine Tommy," she said loud enough to interrupt him, "stop making a fuss!"

Tommy spun his head around to face her. Pain shot through his neck where the stitches were tight and he yelped. "Barbara! Oh thank God! I was so worried. Are you really alright?"

"Yes, I am. I'm doing better than you I think."

"Speak up I can barely hear you," he shouted.

"Will your ear be okay?"

"Yes. Why did you go back into that house after our conversation this morning?" he scolded loudly.

"I couldn't leave a little boy in there could I." Barbara climbed out of the bed and stumbled over to the chair by his bed. She felt giddy and sank gratefully into the chair and leant her head on his bed a few inches from Tommy's.

Tommy reached out and stroked her head gently. "I love you Barbara," he said seriously.

"Well you can love her enough to let her back into bed!" a deep voice bellowed behind them. A stiff woman in her early sixties lifted Barbara up and steered her back to bed. "I told the doctor nothin' good comes from lettin' couples be together. Now you both need your rest. You have five minutes to talk and then I comin' back and you're going back to bed. If you get out again young lady I will move you to another ward. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes matron!" they replied hastily.

"Sister! I work for a livin'. And you," she said looking at Cam, "out! I'll call you when they're free." The woman turned and marched from the room pushing a hapless Cam in front of her.

When she left they began to laugh. "Stop, it hurts my head," she protested.

"Everything hurts over here," he replied.

"No damage to er...sensitive parts is there?"

"No, he's fine," he smirked.

Two hours later Tommy waddled gingerly to Cam's waiting car. He was wearing a blue forensic suit that Cam had in his boot but Tommy was grateful it was still well before dawn. The doctors had cut off his shredded suit pants to tend to his cuts. "The wounds are a bit stiff. It makes it hard to move," he said apologetically.

Barbara looked at him and smiled. He could look dignified in any situation but walking out of the hospital in his shirt, tie and jacket and shoes but missing his trousers may have raised some eyebrows. She grabbed his hand and steadied him. "Will you be okay to sit? Maybe I should have insisted they take you by ambulance."

"I'll be fine," he assured her then turned to Cam, "just go easy on the bumps."

Most of the cuts were to his lower legs so with careful positioning the trip was relatively comfortable. Cam helped them up to their apartment but stood dumbfounded when he saw the sun rising languidly above the Opera House. "Can I join The Met? No wonder you didn't want to stay at the other place."

"I'm paying for it separately," Tommy explained sheepishly, "I wanted Barbara to enjoy Sydney."

They helped Tommy onto the couch and Cam excused himself. "Davo wants to know if we can come over later and tidy up the loose ends. We still have to find Roo and we will need formal statements for the inquest."

Tommy looked at his watch. "It's Sunday and I doubt we can do too much today. What about after lunch? We need a bit of rest."

After she let Cam out Barbara turned to Tommy. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I want to get changed. I feel foolish in these but more importantly I wanted to buy time to contact Roo first. I don't think he'll trust the police but he will trust you."

Barbara helped Tommy to the bedroom and insisted on stripping off his clothes. "Are you sure this isn't some sort of fantasy?" he asked mischievously.

"Hmm, I do rather like strip searching you," she agreed, "oh Tommy you have so many cuts." The back of his thighs and calves were cover in lines of neat stitches. Most were only single or double sutures but three of them were binding deep, long cuts.

"Most of them are not too bad. I'm glad Bazza kept you safe."

Barbara tried to fight back her sadness. She shook her head as if to silence him. Large arms enveloped her and she buried her face gratefully into his neck. "I'm so sorry to put you through that," she whispered, "I saw your face. I understand what memories it brought back."

Tommy hugged her harder, almost to the point she could not breathe. "I thought...I'd lost you. It was just like watching after you were shot. I can't do this week after week. I don't expect you to give up policing but would you consider getting a desk job?"

"Anything can happen anytime Tommy. I don't want to be a paper cop. Would you be able to give it away? Are you going to ask for a desk job?"

He pushed her back so she could see his eyes. "Yes, if it meant you were safe. When you were lying there and I thought I'd lost you I knew if you died I'd follow you. I need you Barbara. You give me life. Without you it means nothing. I don't expect you to feel the same but I think you love me enough to want to be with me."

"What's this? Some sort of ultimatum? You or the Met but not both? I need you both."

Tommy and Barbara stared at each other. "I'm serious," he said, "I'm everything you want in a man, in life..."

"Yeah, modesty being top of my list."

"The only thing you need Barbara is someone who'll love you for eternity. I will but the Met won't. I can't lose you. I want to be with you every day. I want us to wake up in each other's arms and not wonder if it might be our last day together."

"And you think I want that?"

"I'm trying to ask you to m..."

"No! Don't Tommy. Not today. It's for all the wrong reasons. All this talk about losing each other and eternity. It's too much for me. Can't you just..."

Tommy knew he was prone to overreaction and emotional decisions. He did not want to push Barbara so he decided to end the discussion with a kiss; a lovingly tender kiss that rapidly turned fiery. They both tore furiously at their remaining clothes and without conscious thought moved across to the bed.

Barbara had expected a fast encounter that mirrored their desperation and fears. Instead Tommy was deliberately slow and careful. His wounds limited him but she knew it was not that; he was worshipping her, showing how much he cared. Despite her protestations Barbara had been as scared of losing him as he had of losing her and she showed him with her body what she could not bring herself to say. Sleep came easily as they clung tightly to each other, only too aware of what they might have lost.

When Barbara woke a little after nine Tommy was propped up in bed, iPad in hand and his glasses perched intellectually on the bridge of his nose. He saw her stir and leant down to kiss her gently. "Good morning," he said cheerily, "I've arranged to meet Roo at Bondi at eleven."

"Morning. You've been busy."

"No rest for the wicked. I was wicked wasn't I?"

"I like your sort of wickedness," she replied with a grin.

"No, I meant asking you to give up something you love for me."

"I don't think it's wicked to be scared and to want to keep me safe. I was just as frantic about you. Can you give it up? It gives you purpose too. It's important to us both but I won't enjoy it if we can't be together. I don't want to sit and worry that you're out there without me to keep an eye on you; that you're relying on someone else as your partner."

"No one else can be my partner. I hated every second of not being partnered with you over here although I think you quite enjoyed it with Cam."

"He's a good cop Tommy."

"I know. I can't help the way I feel Barbara. I can see a different future for us but you won't let me discuss it."

"When this is over ask me then. Now come here."

They dressed casually for their meeting with Roo. Barbara had grown used to dressing up and now felt a little dowdy. Tommy had unceremoniously parceled up their clothes from yesterday and thrown them out. She was glad she had been wearing her old suit. "Will I get reception to call a cab?" she called out to her partner who was still combing his hair.

"Let's take the bus. I prefer to stand if I can."

Barbara wondered if he had ever used public transport before and if this was an attempt to appear normal. He surprised her though with his ease at navigating through the confusion of bus stops to find the bus. He stood in the standing section hanging on to the strap dangling from the bar above his head while she held onto a pole and allowed him to pull her into his side. It was comfortable and normal as though this was the way their relationship had always been. She could not imagine ever going back to a time where they were not lovers.

The bus wound down the hill to the beach and as they got out Tommy looked for landmarks. Bondi was a favourite tourist beach but the locals had insisted other beaches were better. The yellow sand lined the sweep of the bay and a wide promenade followed the curve around to the south. They slowly began to walk along it arm-in-arm. Families dotted the sand with colourful umbrellas and beach towels and a few hardy swimmers were braving the rolling surf.

Barbara watched the rays of yellowy silvered light across the breaking waves. When she had come out of the house she had seen the abject terror on his face and knew he thought she would die. She had felt guilty letting him down but she had also understood in that look how deeply he loved her. This was no affair that would end back in London as she had feared. Tommy meant every word he said including his unuttered proposal. It was wonderful and yet daunting. So much of his world was a mystery to her; a frightening labyrinth that she would not be confident navigating through_. Oh Tommy, how can I be with you? You need someone who is your equal._

They stopped at the place Roo had nominated, where a small creek snaked across the sand to the sea. She nestled closer and looked out at the glinting blue expanse of ocean. Surfers bobbed in the water waiting on waves big enough to take them to shore. As she watched several of them rose then quickly fell but a few managed to weave and sweep their way across the break almost to the beach. The soft autumn light glinted off their wetsuits lending them a godlike aura. They kept trying with mixed success but none of them gave up. She glanced up at Tommy. His hair was unruly and hung down over his eye. He looked peaceful and adorable. For a fleeting moment she imagined a smaller version of him holding her hand and she knew she could never willingly walk away. She turned back to the beach and sighed, "looks like I'm going to be like you lot and keep having to pick myself up when I fall."

"I rather think it's my job to stop you falling." Tommy instinctively understood her thoughts and he hugged her closer. "We can manage anything Barbara. The world, my world, is not scary together."

Barbara was startled. She had not intended to speak her thoughts. "Sorry, I was miles away."

Tommy kissed her gently. "Just remember I love you."

"Gross!"

They turned to see Roo and KoolCat leaning against a lightpole.


	16. Chapter 16

"Roo!" Barbara exclaimed, "I'm so glad you're safe."

"Yeah," he said proudly, "I can take care of m'self."

Tommy moved closer and extended his hand. Roo shook it and in a maneuver that surprised everyone Tommy scooped him up into his arm and held him against his side. "Oi! Put me down."

"No."

"You're embarrassing me," Roo hissed. Barbara and KoolCat began to laugh as Roo struggled and used his little fists to punch Tommy's shoulder and arm. "This is not funny," the boy yelled.

Tommy twisted and lowered him to the ground but kept a firm grip across the boy's chest. "You son have led us a merry dance for days. It's about time you realised..."

"No Tommy, leave him," Barbara said gently. Lynley glowered at her but released his grip. The boy shook free and moved out of reach.

"He forgets he's nine sometimes," the girl said, earning herself a kick in the shins from the angry lad.

"I don't believe he is," Tommy retorted, "it's like one of those bad movies where an adult and child swap bodies."

"I can't help it that I'm smarter than those cops. You at least were worthy Lord Asherton," Roo said smugly. Tommy and Barbara both looked surprised. "What, you didn't think I'd do my research? Large estate in Cornwall, daddy died when you were at school, you got a First in History at Oxford, nearly killed your best friend in a car accident, married Lady Helen Clarke..."

"Point proven, I am familiar with my CV thank you. Do you tell the future as well as the past?"

"It's pretty obvious. You two will get hitched, retire to your estate and have an heir and a spare or two and live satisfied, uneventful lives."

"After this week that sounds appealing," Barbara said referring to the uneventful part of the statement. When she realised the other implication her face flushed.

Tommy beamed at her wondering if she had just agreed to his as yet unasked question. "Very appealing."

"Now you're getting all soppy again," Roo complained, "go on, kiss her, you know you want to."

"I do, but not with an audience thank you. Are you going to introduce your friend?"

Roo grunted like a grumpy old man and Tommy had to suppress a smile. "Detective Inspector Lynley, Detective Sergeant Havers may I introduce my sister Catriona."

"Sister?" Barbara exclaimed.

"Half-sister actually," the girl explained, "different fathers."

Tommy and Barbara exchanged a meaningful glance. "We didn't know you had a sister Roo. It seems to be something you neglected to tell us in Sheffield."

"He didn't want to endanger me. We'd been in contact for about six months after Mum told him about me."

"And you've been living with Catriona?" Barbara asked.

"Cat, she prefers Cat. Not exactly."

"Dad would have gone mental if he'd found out. Mum left him for Roo's dad. She was on track to complete her PhD in genetics before she got involved with him. Dad hates him, and Roo."

"Do you live here?" Barbara enquired.

"Nah, over the hill in Tamarama. My dad's an orthopaedic surgeon. I have a nanny but she doesn't know about the room in the loft. I hid Roo up there when anyone was around."

"How did your mother meet a steel worker?" Tommy asked.

"Dad's an industrial chemist originally. They met at the uni. She became preggers with me so they ran off back to Wollongong."

"Dad fought for custody of me," Cat added, "Mum didn't willingly abandon me."

"I see. You know we need to take you back for a chat. There are a lot of unanswered questions."

Roo approached Barbara and looked up at her. "They said on the news a policeman was killed in the explosion and another man in the basement. Was that Dad?"

Barbara looked at Tommy across Roo's head. "I don't know Roo. We got three young boys out but I didn't know about the man," she answered honestly.

"He was their cook," Roo said matter-of-factly, "he brewed up methamphetamine for them in the lab they had next to the cells where they kept the boys. He told me he had to do it to pay his gambling debts. They captured me when he tried to go to the police. They made him watch as they took photos. I heard them say they'd post them on the net if he didn't co-operate."

Tommy tried to kneel but it was too painful. "Roo, did they..."

"No. Not then but they would have if Dad hadn't agreed. I saw men come and go into the other cells. I knew they were," Roo swallowed hard, "touching the boys. Some boys disappeared. I never saw them again. Dad used to cry that he had gotten me into it. He said he had send Mum to England to protect me. I believed him."

"We need to get you to talk to some people that can put those animals away for years. You have to come with us. Cat, you're going to have to tell your Dad."

The girl nodded. "Can I ring from the police station?"

Tommy agreed. "Let's get a cab."

Two hours later they had debriefed the two as much as they could on a Sunday. Cat's father, Dr. Pepperhill, required Tommy's best tact to ensure he did not lay a complaint. He glared at Roo disdainfully as they children sat holding each other's hand. "Bastard child has brought me misery since the day he was conceived! I'm not having him in my house."

"He has no other family," Barbara insisted, "would you have him institutionalised?"

"With pleasure! In a gaol for preference. He'll grow up just like his wastrel father."

"Doctor, the boy's just lost his mother and now we believe his father in less than ten days. I suggest some sympathy might be in order."

"Pfft! I'm taking Catriona home. We will co-operate because he dragged us into this mess but I'm not supporting him."

"That's your choice Sir," Tommy replied, his anger simmering just below the surface. "We will however need a DNA sample from you just to exclude parentage."

The doctor protested but after a long, angry telephone call with his solicitor he agreed. He was processed and went to take Cat. The girl ran back and hugged Roo who fiercely returned her embrace. Barbara felt a lump in her throat and then Tommy's reassuring arm around her shoulders. Roo seemed to shrink as he came back up the hall towards them, looking very much like a vulnerable nine year old rather than the mini man that had teased them at the beach. As he reached them Tommy put his free hand on his shoulder and steered them all into the room where the team were waiting.

Kosti took a DNA swab from Roo then bustled off to have them fast-tracked. Davo signalled Tommy over to where he was standing with Cam and Gibbo. Barbara took the hint to keep Roo occupied.

"It's Sunday. The Department of Community Services say they can't get an emergency foster carer until tomorrow. If Dr. Pepperhill has refused to take Roo he'll have to go into a child protection unit overnight," Davo said grimly.

"Barbara and I will take him until tomorrow."

"I don't think we can allow that under the legislation."

"Disguise it," Tommy said flatly.

"How?" Cam asked.

"We think he knows more but is intimidated by the surroundings. He trusts Barbara and we believe he will open up to her away from the station."

"We'd need a judge to agree," Davo said, "we can ask Margaret Possome, she will agree."

Half an hour later Tommy and Barbara left with Roo under strict conditions. Barbara had explained the situation to Roo and made him promise not to run off. "I'm out of options," the boy said, "you two are better than gaol."

Tommy collapsed gratefully onto the sofa and stretched his legs along the seat as Roo ran excitedly through the apartment then stared out the window. "How do you become an earl?" the boy asked seriously, "how many marks do you need for uni?"

"It's hereditary," Tommy replied, "you have to be born to it."

"Bugger! I want to live like this. You're lucky Sergeant."

She was sitting at the end of the sofa and had slipped off Tommy's shoes and was massaging his feet. "I know but at home I live in a modest one bedroom flat. Nothing like this."

"Really? You two don't co-habit?"

Tommy laughed at the boy's choice of terms. "Not yet but I'm working on it. Oh that's good Barbara," he purred.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to be sent to my room to watch a video?" Roo asked cheekily.

Barbara's face reddened and she stopped massaging his feet which earned a light kick and a resentful groan from Tommy. "There's none of that while you're here," she said seriously, "now what would you like to do for the afternoon?"

Tommy grumbled under his breath. He had no intention of changing his private behaviour with Barbara but he had enough self-control to understand that they had Roo to look after. "Nothing that is too active please. My legs hurt."

Roo stood at the window and contemplated his options. "We can leave you here to rest Your Earl," he said seriously, "and I can take Barbara to Manly on the ferry."

"I am not 'Your Earl'. I think you should call us Tommy and Barbara and I can manage a ferry," Tommy said quickly. He was surprised that he was vaguely jealous of a boy threatening to take her away. He hoped he would not feel that way when their children were born.

"Okay," Roo agreed, "and I'll need some new clothes. I only have one other set and Pepperhill has probably burnt them by now."

Tommy looked pleadingly at Barbara. He did not fancy traipsing through the city to go shopping. "They have shops at Manly," she replied and Tommy nodded. He wanted to let them go by themselves while he rested but he had put his reputation on the line to take the boy. He could not afford any tricks if Roo tried to abscond.

They walked slowly down to the long bank of wharves and waited patiently for the big green and cream ferry to pull in. The crowd coming in for Vivid started to pour off the vessel while they waited behind the metal grill. Slowly it was opened and Roo tucked his hand in Barbara's and raced for the open deck at the back. Tommy trailled behind and settled awkwardly onto one of the hard, red bench seats where he could watch them at the rail. Roo's unnerving habit of swapping seamlessly between child and pseudo-adult was fascinating to watch. One minute the boy was whooping at the ferry's movement then the next explaining the chequered history of the Opera House to Barbara. She was completely at ease with it and Tommy knew that she had had years of practice with him lecturing her. He pulled his phone from his pocket and began to take some photos of them. Roo noticed and came over and pulled him to his feet. "Come over and I'll take some for you and Barbara as mementos."

Roo fussed to get the angles and took shots of them in front of the Bridge, the Opera House, and Pinchgut, a convict built sandstone fort on a little island now used as a restaurant. "Come on relax," Roo said, "I'll take one formal one for your colleagues and then private ones for you two."

"Perceptive aren't you?"

"Yes," the boy said without a trace of arrogance, "now kiss or do something gooey."

For the whole half hour of the trip they took turns to photograph the scenery and each other. Tommy enjoyed watching Barbara interact with the boy and it made him more determined to marry her and have children. Twice he tried to ask her again but each time Roo ran over from the rail to point out a landmark.

They shuffled down the gangway as the ferry disgorged it passengers. Tommy looked around the harbour beach. "Is this it? I thought Manly was a rival to Bondi?"

Roo screwed up his face at Tommy as if he were an idiot. "We have to walk across The Corso to the ocean beach."

"Silly you," Barbara said to Tommy as she winked at him and took his hand.

The stroll through the open pedestrian mall lined with surf shops, pubs, restaurants and fish and chipperies was pleasantly short. The beach stretched for miles to the north but Roo explained that the top end became North Steyne. Tall, thick Norfolk Pines lined the promenade and provided shade and shelter. Tommy propped himself against the stone wall and insisted Roo and Barbara explore the beach. They stripped off their shoes and socks and gleefully rolled up their jeans then raced each other across the squeaky golden sand to the edge of the surf. Seeing their fun Tommy wished he could join them as they ran in and out of the waves.

When they returned to him he gave Barbara his credit card and PIN and insisted she take Roo shopping. A main shopping district was tucked off The Corso with enough options for a boy Roo's age. "No three piece suits though," he warned, "or he'll think he's me."

Barbara sensed Tommy considered Roo a rival for her affections. "There's only one you," she said lovingly, "can I borrow a kiss? I promise to return it."

Tommy smiled and happily kissed her lightly, sorry that it could not be more passionate. "If you see anything for yourself buy it too."

"Trusting me with your credit card seems a big step in our relationship," she joked.

"I trust you with my heart so giving you my money is nothing."

Barbara swallowed hard then kissed him again tenderly. "Come on Roo, we'll buy you some fresh clothes."

Tommy watched the surf roll in. Further up the beach lifesavers were practicing their skills in a surfboat and down the beach their was a group of men fishing of a rocky ledge. The peace of the afternoon was shattered by the buzz of his phone. "Lynley," he snapped.

"It's Cam. The DNA came back. Guess what?"

"Roo's father is really Pepperhill."

"How did you know that?" Cam sounded deflated.

"I suspected it. Something about their mannerisms," Tommy confided.

"How are we going to tell them? I don't think either of them will be keen to learn the truth."

"Let's keep it in-house until tomorrow. Then we can decide how to approach it."

"Yeah, DOCS will want him to take the boy but with the level of hostility that could be difficult, maybe even dangerous."

"We'll come in at eight. We can discuss it then. Thanks for the warning though Cam."

Tommy stared out to sea wondering what to do that was best for the boy. "You're deep in thought," Barbara said.

Tommy looked up and smiled. "Nothing that can't wait. What did you buy?"

Barbara made a point of giving back the credit card along with the receipts. Tommy tucked them into his wallet without a glance. Roo proudly showed off his new jeans, a couple of trendy tee-shirts and a hoodie emblazoned with a well-known local surf brand. "And for you?" Tommy asked Barbara.

"A swimming costume," Roo answered for her, "and some boardies for you."

"You think I'm going swimming in this weather?"

"Not exactly," Barbara replied mysteriously, "come on we need to catch the ferry back or it will be too crowded."

Tommy put his hand on Roo's shoulder and leant down conspiratorially. "What's she up to?" He asked. The boy shrugged his shoulders but Tommy knew he was about to become the victim of a scheme.

The light had started to fade and they watched entranced as the orange light of sunset silhouetted the famous Coathanger. Barbara nestled into Tommy and he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. "We won't be able to do this in London," she said, her disappointment clear.

"Why not?" he asked suddenly fearful that she still saw this as holiday fling.

"Because there's no Harbour Bridge there," she replied in a cheeky tone. She knew how to wind him up and she did not want him to think everything was predictable and cosy. Life was going to be bumpy for them at home but right now she just wanted to push back against him and give in to the moment.

The crowds at Circular Quay were much thicker than they had hoped. Tommy was concerned about losing Roo and Barbara in the pressing crowds. "Want to see more?" he asked Roo who was being jostled. The boy nodded and allowed Tommy to lift him onto his shoulders. Lynley grimaced when the boy wriggled to get comfortable and his shirt scraped across his cuts. Still, better that than lose their charge. Barbara juggled the bags in one hand and put her arm firmly through Tommy's. The light show was beginning on the buildings so they slowed down to watch then slowly wound there way back to the hotel.

Roo sat glued to the window watching the lights bedazzle the Bridge and the Opera House sails. He did not budge even for the pizza that Tommy ordered. He sat fascinated as he ate. Barbara and Tommy had both showered and changed into their soft bathrobes and sat on the edge of the desk watching Roo and the lights. Eventually the boy's head began to sag then bounce up but he still resisted going to bed.

As Tommy watched him he remembered the cocky baby-adult that had evaded him at the old house in Wollongong. It seemed such a difference to the tired, little boy in front of him. "Come on little man, off to bed," he insisted and to his surprise Roo obediently began to climb down from the desk.

"Do I get my own room?"

"Yes," Tommy answered carefully, "I trust you."

He was rewarded by a huge grin from Roo who started stripping off his clothes. "Can I trust you?" the boy asked.

"Of course," Tommy answered helping the boy into the oversized bed that originally he had thought he would sleep in.

"Then you can come with Barbara when she takes me to see Grandma."

Tommy looked up at Barbara. "I was meaning to talk to you about that," she replied as she looked away from Tommy's arched eyebrows.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note: **Sorry for the delay, I have had some health issues which laid me flat – literally! It has been a struggle to complete this chapter but I hope I have tied up the loose ends. Also Australians might notice that I have taken a geographic liberty - the beach is based on one south of Wollongong, not north of Sydney, but it does exist as described. I also had to change my activity at the end thanks to Tess's new story!

* * *

After tucking Roo into bed Tommy guided Barbara across the apartment to their bedroom. She understood clearly that romance was the last thing on his mind. He frowned at her. "Well?" he demanded.

"When we went shopping Roo told me his grandmother is alive. She lives in a place called Bowen in Queensland. Apparently she left him contact details in a sealed box in that flowerpot along with some money and a few family items. He has no one else so if she'll take him he'll at least be with family."

Tommy sighed then sat carefully on the bed. His leg was aching and he felt as if he had not slept for days. "It might not be that easy Barbara. Roo's real father is Pepperhill."

Barbara sat gingerly on the edge of the bed next to Tommy. "You suspected that didn't you? That's why you had the DNA test done."

Tommy stretched out his right leg. "I had a feeling. They share expressions and mannerisms. I doubt the doctor will take too kindly to the news."

"No. Poor Roo. When are you going to tell him?"

"In the morning. I think it is better to come from us."

"Yeah," she said wistfully, "I only hope his grandmother wants him."

Tommy pulled Barbara into an embrace. "So do I. He's an unusual kid but I feel connected to him somehow. Come on, let's get some sleep."

Barbara helped Tommy undress. She inspected his wounds and made him lie face down while she dabbed on the cream that they had been given. She kissed him lightly on his neck near one of the cuts.

"Kissing it better?" he asked.

"Hmm. Is it working?"

"Yes." Tommy rolled onto his side and pulled her to him. They held each other as if they were scared that everything was an illusion and that they would wake up alone. Neither spoke but gradually their embrace became more relaxed and Barbara was soon snoring softly. Tommy's mind was racing as he held her. Slowly a plan began to form.

Roo was awake and staring out of his window when Tommy went in to wake him. "Did you sleep okay?" Tommy asked him. He was worried that the boy might have been awake all night.

"Yeah," he answered cautiously, "I'm a bit worried about Cat."

"Roo, there's something you should know," Tommy said cautiously before he explained about his father.

The lad nodded and then looked at his watch. "I'd better have a shower."

Roo sat opposite Tommy chewing silently on his toast. Tommy and Barbara exchanged worried glances. "Are you okay Roo?"

"Yes," he said slowly, "it's ironic really. Mum was a geneticist and didn't even know the father of her son!" The boy began to laugh. "He's going to go mental when he hears. Serve him right to have a son he hates."

"No Roo, don't say that," Barbara pleaded, "when he knows he might come around."

"He's blamed his life's problems on me for ten years. He barely even talks to Cat you know, because of Mum. He's not a forgiving man." The boy turned to Tommy. "I won't end up like him will I?"

Lynley understood insecurity and parental betrayal. He hoped Roo would not suffer as he had done. "No," he said confidently as he put his hand reassuringly on his shoulder, "you're a resilient and resourceful young man. You'll be fine Roo."

"Will this stop my grandma being able to take me?"

"Not if your father agrees. I can't imagine him not agreeing but if he does then we can go to court."

The boy nodded. "Okay. I'm ready."

It took hours for the team to sort everything out. Davo contacted the grandmother and Roo spent half an hour on the phone talking to her while Gibbo and Kosti drove to Tamarama to bring in Pepperhill and Cat. His solicitor arrived at the office before they were back.

"Not a good sign," Barbara whispered.

"No, but hardly unexpected."

Tommy tried his best to persuade the man to acknowledge his son. "I want nothing to do with him and I forbid my daughter to have any contact."

"Dad! That's not fair. He's my brother. Besides I want to meet my grandmother. I want to go with Roo."

Tommy feared a family meltdown was imminent. "Cat, let me talk to your father please."

"Fine. Just remember I will be eighteen in a few years and then you will never have to see me again either!" She stormed out of the room.

"You have a family Sir but it is your choice whether you want to keep them or not. The boy's grandmother is willing to care for him and she would like to see Cat again. It's been a long time. Would you consider letting Cat go with Roo for a week?"

Pepperhill blustered and threatened then went to consult with his solicitor. Barbara came up to Tommy. "You look worried."

"No, frustrated. Did you tell Davo my plan?"

"I think he'd prefer if we flew up there but given your eardrum issue he is prepared to consider it."

"Good, we just have to wait then."

An hour later Pepperhill agreed to Tommy's plan on the condition that Cat report to Bowen police when they arrive. Tommy agreed and arrangements were made. Roo and Cat were excited. Tommy arranged to collect her at seven the next morning and she left with her father. Tommy and Barbara went to say their goodbyes to the team. They had grown strangely fond of the Aussies and Barbara protested wildly when Tommy accused her of having been determined to hate Sydney. "Actually I've learnt a lot here," she argued, "and besides, the city sort of brought us together."

"Hmm," Tommy said as he checked the corridor to ensure they were alone, "every time I look in your eyes I'll think of the Emerald City." He kissed her tenderly.

"Not here," she said pushing him away, "we're at work."

"I still love you even at work."

"Yes well just wait until we are alone please."

Tommy shrugged his shoulders in defeat just as Cam dashed into the room. "Glad I caught you. Sammy wants everyone to come over to our place for a farewell barbeque."

Barbara smiled at Tommy. "That might be a bit longer than we thought."

The barbeque had lashings of meat, copious amounts of beer, lots of tall police stories and even an attempt by Kosti to lure Tommy into a bedroom. Roo was the centre of attention and all of the officers treated him like their own son. He eventually fell asleep on the sofa amid the raucous drinking and Gibbo's attempts to convert Barbara into an aficionado of Aussie rock music. At midnight Cam called them a cab and after several rounds of heartfelt hugs and well wishes the three of them fell gratefully into the rear of the taxi.

Tommy put Roo to bed then fell sleepily beside Barbara. "We haven't made love for two days," he complained, "but I don't think I could..." He stopped and looked over at his lover. She was snoring loudly. Any thought of romance disappeared behind his tired smile.

He was up at six and packed while Barbara and Roo showered. "We'll pick up some breakfast after we collect Cat."

They said goodbye to the apartment, waved at the city sights then went downstairs to check out. The rental car had been delivered and Tommy packed it quickly. "It's a truck!" Barbara declared seeing the shiny blue Landcruiser.

"It's very practical," he replied, "Bowen's two thousand kilometres away."

"On a highway. It's not like we're going bush."

Tommy looked disappointed. "This'll be more fun for the kids."

Barbara was overcome with a desire to hug him. He was quite adorable in his pretence that the trip was only about the children. She could tell he was excited by the idea of driving up to Bowen. She had seen his iPad and knew he had checked out spots to stop. For the first time in years she felt part of a family. This would be what it would be like when they had children of their own. That was a prospect that had daunted her only days before but now it was what she wanted more than anything on earth. She wanted to spend her life blissfully in love with her aristocratic, infuriating and utterly wonderful boss. She smiled at him and when he leant forward she kissed him softly before he ran around and jumped eagerly into the driver's seat.

Pepperhill greeted them politely but turned on his heel and walked towards his door before Cat had even climbed into the car. "I'll see you next week Dad," Cat called forlornly after him. He raised his hand in acknowledgement but did not turn around.

Roo wound down his window and shouted cheekily, "bye Dad!" Pepperhill spun around and glared then stormed inside his house and slammed the door. "See nothing will change," Roo said smugly.

"He's not that bad," Cat told her brother, "this is hard for him too."

Barbara and Tommy exchanged a distressed glance. This was going to be harder than they thought. "Right, who's hungry?" he asked as if nothing was wrong. "I know a place where we can get a big breakfast."

Tommy chatted as they drove over the Harbour Bridge and headed north. He encouraged the kids to talk about landmarks and the environment they drove through. Barbara joined in, impressed by his ease at turning the mood in the car around. Roo and Tommy shared a love of sports cars and as they drove through the leafy northern suburbs they played games of spotting exotic models while Cat and Barbara admired the huge mansions and impressive private school grounds that dotted the highway. Before long they were speeding along a wide freeway that had been carved through the sandstone hills.

As they approached the wide Hawkesbury River Tommy eased onto a slipway and exited the freeway. The road twisted around a finger of flowering bushland and down to the sleepy hamlet of Brooklyn. Tommy pulled into a carpark next to a large white building at the water's edge. "In you go kids; see if we can get a table by the window."

Cat and Roo raced ahead. "They'll be fine," he reassured Barbara before he kissed her, "but I was feeling neglected."

Barbara smiled. "Well we can't have that can we?" She returned his kiss with interest and a promise of more.

"Oi you two!" Roo called, "some of us are starving!"

Tommy watched in bemused awe at the amount of food his three charges could eat. A huge platter of fried eggs, bacon, balsamic tomatoes and fried mushrooms disappeared along with Danish pastries, croissants and chocolate muffins. They sat on the verandah overlooking the water that lapped gently against the grey, wooden wharf. On the other side of the river estuary Tommy could see banks of oyster leases near the sandstone pylons of the long steel railway bridge. To the distant left were the old iron road bridge and the modern concrete span that had superseded it. A faint sound of whooshing traffic drifted over the indigo water but it did not disturb the peace of the morning. He could get used to life out here.

A few hours up the road Tommy turned off at the sign for Pebbly Beach. The bitumen soon gave way to a sandy dirt track that bounced and wound down towards the beach. A small carpark was cut into a natural clearing and Tommy hunted them all out of the car and onto the winding pathway to the beach. Roo and Cat ran on ahead and Tommy took Barbara's hand and strolled peacefully behind them. The bush was alive with birds calling to each other over the gentle rustling of the scrubby trees. Tall trees pierced the canopy and created patches of darkness. Dry leaves crackled underfoot and in the distance they could hear the ocean breaking on the beach.

Tommy inhaled the lemony eucalyptus scent and sighed. "It's peaceful here," he said contentedly.

"Yeah, except for that," Barbara replied referring to the distant sound of chainsaws. "Someone must be cutting trees."

"Sounds more like people riding trail bikes."

They entered a clearing and saw Roo and Cat staring up into the trees. "What've you spotted?" Tommy whispered.

"Koalas. Didn't you hear them?"

"No. What do they sound like?"

"That."

"That's a motorbike," he argued and Cat and Roo burst out laughing. The bike noise stopped instantly.

"That's what koalas sound like," Roo said as if Tommy were the idiot he now felt.

They scanned the trees and Cat pointed several out. They were all nestled into the forks of branches. Some looked asleep and others were munching steadily on the gum leaves. Barbara spotted one with a baby clinging to its back. They watched mesmerised for a few minutes before Roo tugged at Barbara's hand and pulled her towards the beach.

They came out of the bush onto a wide expanse of yellow sand. Low grasses grew over the dunes but a well-worn path led onto the long stretch of beach. Tommy had read about the beach and it inhabitants and he was disappointed not see them straight away. The kids ran down towards the creek at the end of the beach and it was then that Tommy noticed the round humps that looked like bush rocks dotted in the grass. Several of the rocks raised their heads and flicked their eyes towards the sounds of the visitors. "Kangaroos!" Barbara almost squealed. Tommy looked across and smiled at the delight on her face.

The small, grey roos were not the big, red animals that most tourists see on advertisements for Australia but that did not matter. They were seeing them in the wild. The animals were clearly used to tourists and made no attempt to hop away. The kids sat on the dunes watching and the roos slowly moved closer. Tommy watched in fascination as they used their strong tails and long flat feet to inch closer. A few roos hopped in from further away, sensing that the visitors might have brought food. Tommy had read that they should not be fed but he still felt guilty watching their pleading faces.

They sat for nearly half an hour while the kangaroos moved in amongst them. A few got close enough to pat and Barbara carefully tickled one behind its ears. Several mothers with young joeys in their pouches hung warily around the edge of the mob ready to race away at the slightest threat. Tommy watched the way they used their front paws as tools to hold their food and marvelled at the way they seemed to smile at him. He was sure one winked.

"Come on, time to go," he reluctantly told his companions, "next stop The Big Banana."

Barbara smirked and raised her eyebrows suggestively as he pulled her to her feet. "Really?"

Tommy went all colours. "Not in front of the children," he hissed but the two youngsters were already half way back to the track.

Barbara grinned lovingly at him. He was irresistibly cute the way he looked after the kids. A wave of desire stirred in her and she could see from his face he felt the same way. A juicy kiss would have to suffice until they were alone.

The Big Banana turned out to be a thirty metre concrete model of an upturned banana. "It's smiling," she said impishly.

"And you can walk through it."

Roo and Cat were much more interested in the banana-based treats in the cafe than they were in the history of banana horticulture on display inside the model. Tommy however was keen to go out the back. Everyone reluctantly followed but when he produced tickets for the metal luge and the mini-golf he had three excited bodies leaping around him. The luge track followed the contours of the hill. For the first run Tommy insisted that Roo ride with him but he soon gave in to Roo's pleas to be treated in a way befitting his intelligence and maturity not his size. It was hard to argue against that given the last week.

Roo persuaded Barbara to ride with Tommy. It did not take much convincing for either of them and Barbara snuggled tightly against his chest as he leant around her shoulders and grabbed the driveshaft that rose suggestively between her thighs. Tommy pushed it forward, whispered a wicked suggestion into her ear then allowed their cart to careen down the track at full speed with both of them whooping and hollering. They rushed back up to the top to do it again. This time he let her drive while he wrapped his arms tightly around her allowing his mind and his hands to wander.

At the bottom Barbara watched Tommy closely. Years of worry had aged him but now he looked young and alive. She was pleased to be partly responsible. He looked happy and she was happy, happier than she had ever been. Now the case was over they could relax and enjoy their time together. "I love you, you know."

Tommy's grin threatened to split his face. "I should hope so. Who else would bring you half way around the world to visit an overgrown banana? So have you..."

Tommy was interrupted by the kids begging for another three rides. He sighed and pulled out his wallet. Eventually he would have a moment alone with Barbara where he could propose in peace but it was not going to be here. "One more set and then we're going," he said trying, but failing, to sound stern.


	18. Chapter 18

It was dark when Tommy pulled the car into the carpark beneath the apartment block. He was mildly disappointed as he had booked an apartment on a high floor with sweeping view of Surfers Paradise beach but he was pleased that they had spent extra time at the Big Banana. His passengers had chatted happily for an hour afterwards before they had slowly drifted off to sleep as he drove. He was tired too but strangely content. He had been able to look across at Barbara and imagine this was their family; that they were happily married with two well-adjusted, intelligent and funny children. It was not a scene he had ever imagined craving but he did. He wanted it more than anything but he knew it came with sacrifices. He and Barbara could not continue to risk their lives in the police. They could not go away on cases and leave their children. As he drove he wondered how to discuss it with her. He feared that faced with an ultimatum of career or him she might choose her career.

Barbara had rested her hand on his leg as he drove. When she had fallen sleep it had lolled precariously close to an area he found distracting. Her hand twitched periodically and Tommy groaned softly. It was torture - sweet torture. Tempted as he had been to move it exactly where he wanted it he had instead placed it carefully in her lap. The car was not the place for those types of thoughts. Now though as he guided the car into its spot for the night his thoughts were free to roam. Perhaps the kids would like to see a movie?

The apartment was more impressive than he imagined. Sweeping windows surrounded three sides of the living area giving them a view of the night lights of the famous holiday strip which had the sultry feel of Miami mixed with the buzz of Californian beaches. People thronged everywhere in the streets and the buildings were dressed in gaudy neon lights. The kids squabbled over the bedrooms, both preferring the one that looked across to the rooftop pool of another apartment block. Roo finally acquiesced and allowed Cat to have the room when he found the other had an ensuite. Roo had stayed in the bathroom to watch the street life below. "Are you okay in there?" Tommy called through the door.

"Yeah, you can sit on the loo and watch all the people in the street."

"Charming. Well don't get too comfortable, we need to eat."

Dinner was hurriedly eaten at a tourist restaurant that Roo chose. It theoretically offered authentic Australian cuisine. "There's nothing authentic about it," Cat said as she eyed the menu, "typical American food chains that try to establish a market and give our country a bad reputation for food while it appeals to American and Japanese tourists only interested in maximising the sugar and fat content."

"Uh-huh," Tommy agreed dismissively, "so will you have the Townsville Terror or the Rockhampton Rack?"

Cat sighed, resigned to her fate. "I'll have the ribs."

"Terror for me," Barbara said preparing her palate for a large, juicy steak.

Tommy and Roo fancied the lamb. "Two Jolly Jumbucks, one Rockhamption Rack and one Townsville Terror please," Tommy told the waitress.

"Do you want Tucker Bags with your Jumbucks?"

The kids started laughing at the bewildered look on Tommy's face. He ignored them. "Yes please." He had no idea what he had ordered.

"It's a line from Waltzin' Matilda," Roo explained, "you know 'who's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag? You'll come a waltzin' matilda with me'."

Tommy was confused but decided it was not information he needed to understand. "Right, I see. Very good. Now tomorrow we can drive up the coast or we can stay here and go to one of the theme parks then leave early the next day and drive all the way to Bowen. It's up to you."

The kids universally agreed on a theme park but it took another hour of wrangling to agree on which one. Barbara and Roo had fancied Wet'n'Wild but Tommy was not going to spend the day on waterslides. Cat wanted to go to Seaworld to see the dolphins which Roo proclaimed was lame. Roo suggested Dreamworld but they finally agreed on MovieWorld. "I've always fancied myself as an actor," Tommy boasted.

"Yeah right," Barbara scoffed.

"Off with her head!" Tommy roared and accidentally swept his glass of water off the table.

"Tommy!" his charges admonished in unison before everyone started laughing.

"Right, well if King Henry The Eighth here has settled down perhaps we can go home," Barbara quipped.

Tommy glanced at his watch. It was ten minutes before the movie started. "Do you fancy seeing the new Sherlock movie kids?"

Five minutes later they were all seated in the cinema. Barbara was smirking and trying not to laugh. Tommy leant over. "Sorry, it was not quite what I meant."

"I know and so do they. Roo did ask if we wanted to be alone."

"Well I could hardly say yes could I? Then they'd know that...well you know...what we were doing."

Barbara grinned until her face ached. He was so sweet when he was trying to be be correct and caring. It was an aspect of his character that she had seen in different guises but never as a parent. "You'll make a great dad one day," she said as she kissed him gently.

Tommy was jabbed in the ribs by Roo. "Shoosh! Stop pashin', the movie's about to start."

By the time they were eventually alone, with two exhausted children tucked safely in their beds, Tommy was tired. Despite that he took little convincing to share a shower with Barbara. It had a private window that looked down the coast. The lights of thousands of apartments were twinkling in the distance and at regular intervals light pooled across the sand of the beach. "I hope no one can see us," Barbara said huskily.

Tommy turned off the light. "Not a chance. I have you all to myself," he said as he kissed her and pushed her under the stream of water and against the cool glass of the window which started to steam up with the heat of their bodies.

Barbara regretted that they had not been adequately prepared but after a soapy prelude they rinsed and raced into the bedroom. The crisp, dry linen was soon soaked with water and sweat as they rolled around vigorously while trying to remain quiet. In the end they had made love very slowly, very gently and with barely a sound.

The next day sped past. Despite his reluctance Tommy had been persuaded to take all the rides and in the end had enjoyed it as much as Barbara and the youngsters. He marvelled at how relaxed he was; a sensation he had not felt for years. He had genuinely enjoyed the shows and the way everyone had laughed at his attempts to imitate Spiderman in front of the bluescreen. When it had been shown back with the background he had felt nauseous at the thought of dangling so far in the air, clearly not connected to the building. "As an actor I think I had better stick to being a copper," he whispered to Barbara who squeezed his hand tightly.

Barbara dreaded when they would return to work. They were both happy and carefree away from murderers and kidnappers. "Maybe just an aristocrat on your estate," she suggested hoping to sow a seed in his mind.

"I'd be too boring for you."

"Never," she said softly and moved closer to kiss him.

"They're at it again," Roo interrupted, "come on we can do that Terminator ride if we hurry."

That night as they lay in bed Tommy sensed Barbara was upset. "What's wrong?," he asked as he pulled her closer, "I didn't hurt you in the shower did I? I know I got a little carried away."

"No, nothing like that. I enjoyed it. I thought you'd've noticed."

Tommy kissed her. "Hmm, I did. So what's wrong?"

Barbara sat up. "I'm going to miss them."

"Me too."

"What if they're not happy?"

"Roo's grandmother will look after him Barbara and I think Cat will ensure she stays in his life. And we can stay in touch. Maybe we can have them all over to Howenstowe to stay sometime."

Barbara lay back in his arms. "That'd be nice. I could come down too. Kids deserve to be happy Tommy."

"They will be," he said with more certainty than he felt, "and yes, you will most certainly be there with me." Tommy did not want to discuss marriage right now. He had another idea in mind but he wanted her to know his intention. "Now go to sleep. We have to be up early."

The next day was a long drive through a variety of landscapes. They sped along the freeway past Brisbane and up into the lush green hinterland through undulating dairy country which gave way to the flatter floodplains that supported large sugar cane crops. Slowly the land became drier and cattle began to dot the paddocks. They stopped for lunch at a small cafe by the river at Rockhampton. The mood in the car had been fine but as they got closer to Bowen the tension had built up. Now Roo was quiet as they ate. He was almost sullen.

"Let's go for a walk before we get back in the car," Lynley suggested.

The foursome began to meander along the path by the river. Tommy signalled to Barbara who guided Cat down to the riverbank to look at the ducks. Tommy put his arm around Roo. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head but as they walked he began to sigh. "What if she doesn't want me either? I know I can be challengin' and she's never met me. What if I don't like her? And what if Pepperhill stops Cat seein' me? She's been my only friend. You don't know what it's like only havin' one person in your life who understands you."

Tommy knelt down and took Roo by the shoulders. "I do actually and I understand how isolating it is when you think you are alone in the world. But you're not Roo; Barbara and I care for you very much. Cat loves you and you were loved by your Mum and even Woods did what he did to keep you safe. Your grandmother loved your Mum and I'm sure she'll love you. You are not odd, you're simply an older head on a nine year old's body but you don't have to be an adult all the time Roo. You can lean on others."

Tommy watched the boy carefully. Roo was trying hard not to cry but when he looked up and saw Tommy smiling at him tears started to roll down his cheeks. Tommy pulled him close and held him tightly as the boy let all of the tension and worry of recent weeks go. He reached around and tightened his hands behind Tommy's neck and laid his head on his shoulder. It pulled painfully on the cuts but Tommy was not going to let him go.

Barbara watched on from a distance. Tommy was going to be a wonderful father one day. "It'll do him good," Cat said, "he's a tough little bugger but he can't be strong forever."

"He's a good kid," Barbara agreed, "I hope he'll be happy."

Tommy waited until Roo had cried himself out then he pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and let him blow his nose. "Better?"

"Yeah," Roo said, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're going to be fine Roo but you've been through a lot. Give yourself time. Come on, let's go and check that Barbara hasn't terrorised all the ducks."

As the late afternoon sun streamed into the car Tommy noticed that the kids had fallen asleep. They had just passed Mackay in the shadows of high green hills that seemed in stark contrast to the drier brown paddocks to the south.

"Are you getting tired?" Barbara asked.

"Yes but I knew it would be a long day. I wanted them to enjoy yesterday. I think I made the right choice."

"You did. You're a good man Lord Asherton."

Tommy grinned at her. He was tempted to tell her that she would be a perfect countess but he knew it was not the place. "Thank you Barbara."

Tommy turned on his lights early. He was aware that dusk was the most dangerous time. They had seen a few dead animals on the side of the road. The last thing he wanted was to hit something, especially a kangaroo. He stopped for petrol at Proserpine and checked the distance to Bowen. "About an hour," he told Barbara as he climbed back into the vehicle. He saw her worried look. They were both nervous about what might happen.

It was nearly seven when Tommy turned off the highway and began to search for the address written on the piece of paper Barbara held. Bowen was a dry, dusty town with wide streets laid out in a large grid. Highset timber houses lined the streets and Tommy was sure they had driven past one at least twice. The kids were awake but silent. "There," Barbara said, "Hay Street."

Tommy drove slowly. There was a light outside a house a block further on. He instinctively knew that was the house. He pulled up out the front and saw the big screen door swing open. A tall, rotund lady raced out and waited anxiously at the gate. Roo and Cat climbed cautiously from the car.

"Rufus! Catriona! Oh how wonderful," the woman cried as she rushed over and enfolded them in her arms.

Tears streamed down her face and Tommy noticed Barbara knuckling away tears of her own. He handed her his second handkerchief and put his arm around her shoulder. He glanced at the door and smiled. "Look Barbara."

Barbara followed his gaze. "Well I'll be!"

The woman introduced herself in between wracking sobs and generous hugs, "Christine Murphy."

"Tommy Lynley and my partner Barbara Havers."

"Thank you. Thank you so much. This is wonderful."

"Our pleasure," Tommy assured her.

"Dad!" Cat cried as she looked over and saw her father.

"Hi love. Nice trip?"

Roo looked over and frowned then turned and looked at Tommy who shrugged. Pepperhill came over towards Roo and knelt down in front of him. "Rufus, I wanted to talk to you. I loved you mother very much and it broke my heart when she left me. I blamed you but it wasn't your fault. It would have happened anyway. We were good together but we tore each other apart. I can't explain but one day you might understand."

Tommy could tell Roo had no real concept of what his father was saying. The boy grunted non-commitally.

"I know you were being sarcastic but when you called me Dad I couldn't get it out of my head. I realised that I am your father and that I want to get to know you. Catriona says you are smart and funny but that you have grown up so fast you have missed being a kid. A lot of that's my fault but

I want to try and make it up to you. Christine has agreed to move back to Sydney so we can spend time together. I know you won't understand but a parent has no choice, they love their kids. I know I have to work to earn your respect son but I want to try. I want us to be a family, as much as we can and maybe one day you'll start to like me enough..."

Roo was more forgiving than Tommy was capable of being. The boy hugged his father as he had Tommy and Pepperhill wrapped his arms around him and wept on the boy's shoulder. Cat hugged them both and Christine hovered over all of them.

"That kid puts me to shame," Tommy whispered to Barbara.

"He puts us all to shame."

Christine ushered everyone inside and after a cup of tea and some chocolate cake Tommy thanked her and bade farewell. Originally he had intended to come back in the morning and check on the kids but with Pepperhill there he decided a clean break would be better. It was another half hour before everybody had said goodbye and hugged each other senseless. Tommy had warned Pepperhill that he would regret it if he ever hurt Roo but he sensed the man was genuine.

He gave Roo a hearty handshake and passed him a business card with his contact details. The boy was clearly proud that Tommy was treating him with respect as a man and not fussing like Barbara. "I expect you to write," he told him, "and if you still want to go to Oxford I will stand as referee for Exeter."

"Thank you Tommy," the boy said seriously, "you were a very worthy adversary for a while. I will miss our games."

"I won't because I know you're safe. Take care Roo."

As they pulled away Barbara waved until they were out of sight. "I miss them already. Where are we staying by the way?"

"Here tonight then we'll head down the coast tomorrow."

"Can we take a few days this time? I need a break and it's like driving from London to Moscow."

"I've arranged for us to have some time off," he replied nonchalantly, "everything is in hand."

"Meaning?"

"We are finally going to be alone, no case, no kids, no Hillier. Just you and me for a week."

"Where?"

"That, my love, is a surprise for tomorrow."


	19. Chapter 19

**Epilogue**: My final Australian Tourism advertisement ;)

* * *

"Oh no! I'm not getting on that," Barbara told Tommy.

"It's perfectly safe," he replied calmly as he admired the fine lines of the classic wooden yacht moored at Airlie Beach Marina.

"It probably is but I don't know the first thing about sailing. I'd fall off and be eaten by a shark. Or maybe that's your plan?"

Tommy shook his head and laughed. "No, my plan was to sail around the Whitsundays for a week." He came up behind her and encircled her in his arms.

"No sweet-talking. This is well beyond...sweet...talking..." Barbara found it hard to resist him when he nuzzled her neck like he was now.

"Just us...no one around to bother us..." He traced a line of kisses up her neck. "Soft, white-sand beaches...we can go swimming...make love under the stars...be rocked to sleep by the gentle swaying of the boat."

"No...I like land...can't we find a resort?" She could feel her objections melting away with every kiss on her shoulder.

"Too many people," he murmured into her ear, "I want you alone."

"One night," she said firmly, "and if I hate it we come back. Deal?"

Tommy knew when to concede. "Deal."

They spent an hour receiving instructions from the charterer. Barbara regretted having given in to him but a small part of her was excited. She knew he could sail and the water looked calm enough. Below the deck there was a fully stocked galley trimmed in beautifully polished cedar. The table was a cosy nook and in the bow was a large double bunk with cool, white satin sheets. A single red rose lay in the centre. She had to admit it was romantic.

When she came back from inspecting the yacht Tommy went below and re-emerged in the boardshorts Barbara had bought him and a grey tee-shirt. "Go on, get changed," he said.

Barbara came back in lowcut but functional swimmers in a bold floral pattern. Tommy was disappointed. He had hoped for something more seductive. A bikini perhaps where he could tug at the sidestrings and have her naked in seconds. _Behave! _He swallowed his desires. "Let's go."

For Tommy the small yacht was easy to sail. Electronic gears raised and lowered the sandy, kevlar sails and there were alarms systems to monitor everything. The yacht even had an auto-pilot function and directions to the best anchorages. He used the engine and puttered slowly out of the marina and through the narrow channel at the entrance to the harbour. Barbara sat beside him in the cockpit gripping the railing for dear life. He smiled reassuringly and hoped that the week would go as he planned. He wanted her to relax and enjoy herself. As he raised the sails and turned off the engine the wind caught the canvas and the yacht lifted in the water. It was a joy to handle and Tommy soon tacked into the wind and set course for the islands.

Barbara liked the wind in her face. The yacht was smooth and cut through the gentle waves with ease. She was beginning to enjoy it but she was not going to tell Tommy. Instead she watched the islands appear. Most were large with high hills covered in lush bush. Shiny beaches lined the coves and inlets and large granite boulders formed little headlands against which the waves lapped gently. There was not a cloud in the azure sky and the dark water sparkled in the sunlight. She stood and carefully made her way to the bow. She was beginning to see why being barefoot was an advantage. The sun-bleached wood was slightly rough beneath her toes and she had to work to find her balance. She had seen people sit on the bow in magazines so she lowered herself carefully and allowed a leg to hang over each side while she held on to the silver railing that held her onboard. Salt spray splashed on her face and her hair streamed behind her in the breeze. She felt alive and free. She turned back and smiled lovingly at Tommy.

Tommy watched her and smiled. Unless something horrible happened they would have the yacht for the week. He steered a course for a beach at the back of Hook Island. In his email he had asked for directions to private, infrequently visited but beautiful beaches. The charterer had suggested this one would be perfect for their first stop. It would take nearly two hours to get there but he hoped it would be worth it. Now that he was out of the channel he flicked on the autopilot and went to Barbara. He sat behind her and rested his head on her shoulder. "Beautiful isn't it?"

"Hmmm. Oh Tommy I'm sorry I resisted. This is wonderful."

He was relieved. "We won't sail all the time," he said wickedly, "I have other plans too."

Barbara shivered in anticipation. "I think we can find plenty to keep us occupied."

"Oh definitely," he agreed as he nibbled seductively on her ear. He squeezed some sunscreen from a tube and began to massage it into the exposed skin of her back and shoulders. "We can go swimming or hiking, lay on the beach."

"Make love..."

Tommy kissed her. "Oh, yes, lots and lots of that please. Not yet though or we'll run aground!"

As they rounded the point of the island Tommy took active control of the yacht. He tacked into a long harbour and allowed the boat the slip down the long stretch of water. The channel was over a quarter of a mile wide and looked about a mile long. Tommy followed the red dots on the map and half way down the channel turned on the engine and steered into a narrow cove. Past the entrance it opened into a wide bay lined by a brilliant white beach. Barbara stood at the bow and gaped. At the end of the beach she could see a small waterfall tumble over the rocks. Palms and coconut trees lined the beach. It was an unspoilt paradise and it felt as if they were the first people to ever see it.

Tommy stopped the engine and guided the yacht into the beach. He anchored in waist deep water, happy that he had left sufficient draft. He could see the sandy bottom and schools of small fish swimming off in fright. "Our home for tonight," he declared.

"Oh Tommy! I have no words. It's wonderful."

"Just like you," he said before he kissed her, "do you want to go exploring?"

Tommy stripped off his shirt then hopped into the clear water. "Argh!"

"What's wrong?" Barbara's first thought was a shark.

"The water is stinging my cuts but salt water is a good healer. It'll do me good."

Barbara sat on the edge and allowed him to lift her down. The water was refreshing but much warmer than she had thought. They waded to shore then paused to cuddle and share a loving kiss before they wandered hand-in-hand down the beach.

"Let's look at that waterfall," Barbara suggested as she broke away from him and began to run along the beach. Tommy chased her, caught her and tackled her gently onto the beach. The sand was as fine as talcum and clung softly to their wet bodies. Tommy rolled them onto the wet sand and let the water wash over them as he passionately kissed her.

Just when Barbara thought they were about to make love right there Tommy stood and helped her to her feet. She was disappointed. As they walked silently down the the end of the beach Tommy seemed pre-occupied. The waterfall tumbled into a pool of crystal clear water that came up to their knees. It was cooler than the sea but still pleasant. Tommy slipped under the water and swam over to the waterfall. "Come on, it's great."

Barbara was not the proficient swimmer Tommy appeared to be. She carefully breaststroked her way to him. He pulled them back under the waterfall. The drops were heavy as they crashed into her shoulders and head but behind the cascade it was private and peaceful. Tommy held her to him and began to kiss her neck. He slipped the shoulder straps of her swimmers down so that he could kiss the bare skin of her shoulders and back. Before long they had shed their clothes and had begun to make love. Tommy fumbled in the pocket of his boardies and groaned in frustration. "Sorry. I thought I was prepared."

"It doesn't matter Tommy. I'm beyond wanting barriers between us."

Tommy looked directly into her eyes. "You know I'll always look after you."

"I know and it's not a trap Tommy, I'd never do that."

Tommy kissed her tenderly then lifted her up onto the low ledge. "You know I want five children," he teased, "so the sooner we start..."

Barbara stopped him with a kiss as she pulled him down to her. "Two maximum. Oh Tommy!"

"I wish we could stay like this forever," he said as they lay together, exhausted by their afternoon of tender love.

"Me too," she agreed dreamily as she nestled into him, "real life is a drag."

The light started to fade and Tommy sat up sensing a storm. "What is it?" Barbara asked.

Tommy looked up at the sky then remembered the weather warnings. "It's a solar eclipse," he replied, "I forgot about it. Perfect timing." He twisted so that she was looking at him. "We can stay like this forever you know. Would you ever consider giving up the force?"

"What are you asking Tommy?" Barbara swallowed hard. I_s this a proposal?_

"I can't bare the thought that we might have another situation like last week. I don't want you in danger. I'm selfish I know but I'm asking you to leave the force so that I never have to go through that again."

Barbara bristled. "And what about you? I suppose it is fine for me to sit somewhere and worry about you?"

"I should have told you earlier," he admitted, "I tried but I couldn't find the right moment. I've already told Hillier I intend to resign when I get back."

"I see. Are you moving back to Cornwall?" She asked warily as she sat up and searched for her clothes. This conversation was not going the way she had first thought.

"That depends," Tommy said not realising that Barbara was becoming annoyed. "I want to spend more time there but London is your home so I don't expect you to give up your career and your home. We can live wherever you prefer Barbara as long as we're together. I never want to be apart from you again."

The confusion returned and Barbara lay back in his arms. "What are you asking me Tommy?"

Tommy smiled broadly and leant up on his elbow so that he could look her in the eyes. "Barbara, I'm asking you to give up your career and spend the rest of your life with me. Will you make me the happiest man in the world by marrying me?"

"You could have said that first."

He shrugged and grinned at her. "Sorry. So?"

"I was thinking about how to ask _you _to give up the force. I want us to be together Tommy but you deserve better."

"No one is better. I love you Barbara. I want us to marry and have children - five didn't I say? I want to be able to wander the world and make love to you on every isolated beach we find."

"Life will never be this simple Tommy."

"Do you love me?"

"Of course I do. I have for years. More than you can imagine."

"Then you have no choice do you? You have to marry me and just ride with it all. Besides we might have already created number one son so maybe I have trapped you."

Barbara knew she wanted it and she knew her objections did not overcome her desire to be with him. "You don't have to trap me. Yes, I'll marry you but if I don't make you happy you have to promise to tell me. I'd rather live without you than make you miserable."

"And that's exactly why I will never be unhappy." Tommy kissed her passionately. "Now about those five children..."

She smiled at him as the sun again burst through the canopy above their heads. "Three, I'll consider three." Their laughter dissolved into a fiery kiss.


End file.
